Point of no return
by Phokej
Summary: Now it's Akira's time to find love... But will he fight for it or run away from it? What if the girl doesn't seem to reciprocate his feelings? Will he even realize his own feelings?
1. Chapter 1

Hi, my dear readers

Here's a first chapter of Akira's story. This one seems to be more tricky than 'Catch me if you can' because I need to work on the characters more. I hope you will enjoy this story as well as the first one.

Iif you find this one interesting, boring or even unworthy of reading, please leave me a note about what you really think.

Looking forward to your comments

**Point of no return**

**Prologue**

_Sasha: I built walls around my heart not to protect myself but to see who cares enough to break them down._

_Akira: I always thought I knew women but she's like no one I met before. I can clearly see the wall protecting her and I want to break it with my bare hands._

**Chapter 1**

It was Friday evening in the middle of October. The weather was still warm and Tokyo was buzzing with night life. Or at least it was like that in one bar in Roppongi.

Akira was just relaxing in his private room after a long day at the office. Unusually alone, he watched the people on the dance floor underneath through a one-way mirror.

On a day like this he was lonelier than ever. Soujirou was still desperately looking for Yuki, Tsukasa and Tsukushi just celebrated the birth of their first child and Rui... well, was still the same Rui. Akira sighed. He didn't have any other close friends than those three. It was understandable, he was the heir of biggest Yakuza group in Japan. His life was in constant danger even though they already stopped with underhanded activities.

_Enough of melancholy, let's find some girls to dispel these unpleasant thoughts. _He thought.

He stood up and went downstairs. Just when he was turning around a corner, his chest met a glass full of red wine.

„What the-" He started but was interrupted by a flood of foreign words.

„Krucinál, himl hergot, a víno je v pr..." He lifted his head from his now red shirt and saw a young woman with auburn hair holding almost empty glass. She shrugged and drank the remaining wine. _And I finally found a bartender who would give me a normal glass of wine instead of bottle lid. Now I need to go there again._

„I'm really sorry." She said and nodded her head. Then she took out the handkerchief from a pocket of her trousers and started to wipe off the wine from his shirt.

Akira was in total daze. _What is she doing?_ He couldn't understand how she could touch him so easily.

„Hey," He caught her arm and stopped her. She turned to him with questioning look. „What do you think you're doing?"

Sasha dropped her eyes to her hand with now pink handkerchief on the big red stain on a formerly white silk shirt.

"I'm trying to dry off the stain. Well, at least a bit." Sasha looked at him apologetically and then she continued as he released her hand, completely shocked.

Akira's jaw dropped as he watched her doing. He couldn't believe his own eyes. _Doesn't she know who I am?_

He caught her hand again. „That's enough." He asked her with dangerous look on his face.

She didn't seem to notice this as she calmly replied. „Yeah, I also think this is not going anywhere." She gave him a sceptical look.

„And what do you plan to do to retrieve my ruined outfit?" He asked her.

She thought for a moment. „Alright. Come with me." Sasha turned and started to walk away. When she noticed he's not following her she gave out a sigh, went back, took Akira's hand and tugged him with her.

„Let's go."

Once again, Akira was speechless. _Just who is this girl? Doesn't she really know who I am? Or is she just trying to catch my attention? _

He reluctantly followed her and checked her in between. She wasn't exactly skinny but she wasn't fat either. Her hair was shoulder length and bouncing in soft waves. Her eyes hidden behind glasses had an almond shape so he mistook her for Asian at first because of it.

They finally reached the place where Sasha led them. It was quite close to the dancing floor and the sofa around the table was empty.

„Seems like all the girls went somewhere." Sasha commented and searched through the dancing crowd. „Ha! There they are, hunting men again." She shook her head and turned to Akira who wasn't sure if she was talking to him or not, giving him a flash of smile.

Sasha dropped his hand and went to the opposite side of the sofa. Akira stood where she left him uncertain what to do. Before he could decide she was already back.

„Take off your shirt."

„I beg you pardon?" Akira's eyes almost popped out.

„I said take off your shirt. Don't you understand Japanese?" Sasha watched him as she waited for him to find himself again.

„W-Why should I?" He asked and couldn't help but to blush a little. Fortunately for him it wasn't visible in the dark of the room.

„Because I want to wash it and I'll lend you my jumper for now." And with that she stretched her arm with white pull-over.

Akira stared at her hand for a minute and then he finally found himself again. Curious about her reaction, he started to slowly unbutton his shirt. He shot her a secret look as his shirt was more and more opened but to his surprise she looked rather impatient.

„Are you finished?" She asked with soft smile on her lips.

„Ehm... Yes..." He reluctantly gave her his shirt and took the piece of cloth from her hand. _Well, let's try it. I don't have much of a choice anyway._

„Wait." Sasha stopped him when he just lifted his arms to put the jumper over his head.

„Hm?"

„You have a wine here." And with that she tried to wipe the stain on his chest. Akira winced away from her touch.

Sasha looked at him surprised by his move.

„I'll do it myself." He tried to stay calm but he was already too bewildered to achieve it.

She just shrugged her shoulders and gave him a clean handkerchief. _Maybe I'm too straightforward. I guess he's not used to this way of behaviour, so not Japanese._ She smiled secretly. Of course she did notice his bare chest but she wasn't some teenage girl to stay speechless from the sight. _But it is one fine chest I must say._ She felt his muscles when she was wiping the wine. _Sadly, not for me._ Sasha returned to the present and saw that he was already dressed in her pullover. She couldn't suppress a small giggle. He looked really funny. The sleeves were short, the hemline was barely covering the belt of his trousers and the pink abstract decoration in the left corner was too sweet for him.

Akira knew he looked awfully and ridiculously but he couldn't do anything about it at that moment. He sighed and resigned himself to his fate.

„Ehm..." Sasha cleared her throat. „Can you give me your number? I will call you when I have the shirt washed."

„You give your number to me, I will call you next week." Akira didn't want to give out his number. He had to be cautious all the time and he wasn't sure if this girl doesn't have any ulterior motives.

„It doesn't make much sense but as you wish. My name's Sasha and my number is..." She dictated her number to him and he saved it.

„May I ask for your name?" She said and Akira eyed her for a second.

„So you really don't know who I am?" He finally asked the question that has been bothering him this whole time.

„No, should I?" She looked like she really didn't know him.

„No. Ehm, I'm Akira."

„Nice to meet you, Akira." She smiled at him and offered him a hand. He watched her gesture cautiously and then slowly accepted it. She squeezed his hand lightly and released it.

„And I'm really sorry for the wine."

„It's ok, no problem." Akira finally smiled. It changed him so much that Sasha winked several times.

„Thanks. Well then, I'll be waiting for your call next week." She answered politely.

They smiled at each other before Akira turned and walked back into his private room, completely forgetting his original idea about girls.

_This was the most unbelievable meeting in my life. _He thought when he was sitting in his room again. He tried to find her on the dance floor but couldn't see her.

Then he stopped himself. _I'd better do something about this._ And he looked down sourly on the jumper he was wearing.

**oOo**

Sasha closed the door of her small flat and sighed in relief. _Finally at home._ She took off her shoes and put on slippers. Turning on the lights she entered her small living room connected with kitchen. She put her bag on the sofa and took out a small plastic bag containing a wet shirt. _I really don't know how I'm going to clean this..._ Sasha looked at now pink stain. She tried to wash it in the bathroom of the club but what can you achieve with tepid water and perfumed soap. Sasha sighed. _Why did he have to wear a silk shirt? Silk and red wine aren't best friends... Cotton would be better._ She smiled at her silly thoughts and went to the bathroom. There she applied eraser on the coloured spot. _Let's hope it will help._

She returned to the kitchen and made herself a tea. While waiting for the water to boil, she once again remembered the events of the past evening.

Her colleagues tried to persuade her to come with them to the bar and she reluctantly agreed although she'd better go home. Being in Japan for only a month she was still trying to get used to a different lifestyle. She always wanted to live and work here but it was a bit difficult to tone down her naturally cheerful, talk-active and sometimes too loud nature. She didn't want to stand out too much but she also knew it's inevitable since her nature was to show all of her freely.

Sasha sat down on the sofa with the cup of hot tea and put her tired legs on the table. She closed her eyes and finally relaxed. She started to smile when she remembered the shocked face of Akira when she started wiping the liquid off his chest. Then she laughed more and more. _I bet he never met someone who would do what I did._ Slowly she calmed down. _But it was refreshing to be myself after awhile._ _Although I, myself don't know why I took his hand so easily. That's so NOT LIKE ME. _Sasha sighed as she looked around the quiet room. _Awfully quiet._ Although this was what she wanted, at moments like this she felt really lonely.

„Well, it's no use to be blue. At least I can sleep really looong tomorrow." She said to herself aloud. She turned off the light in the room and went to bed.

**oOo**


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, everyone,

I'm sorry for the late update but I had my CAE exam and I spent all of my time studying. :-)

Anyway, here's second chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

And please, leave a comment. :-)

to MatsuJun Lover: I love Akira too that's why I want him to find happiness as well :-) Well, Sasha is from Central Europe and I used my native language because she's based on a person I know very well. :-)

to Di: thanks for liking Catch me if you can :-) I also think that japanese girl wouldn't be suitable for Akira. I think he needs someone who would be a real puzzle for him. He's so used to all kinds of women that one who's not interested in him would be a sort of challenge, like: Is she just playing to be 'hard to get' or does she really mean it? And that will bring out a question 'Why isn't she interested?' and so on and on and before he knows it, he's in love :-)))

Still, thanks for your lovely comments :-)

* * *

**Chapter 2**

On Monday morning, Sasha was again looking like a professional office lady and ready to go to work. She took the underground to reach her working place. Somehow she managed to be on time this whole month, although she was always late in her previous job.

Sasha entered the building and greeted her colleagues who were already waiting in front of the lift.

"Hi, Sasha. How was your weekend?" Natsuko, her co-worker, asked her.

"Hi, it was quite fine. What about yours? Did you have fun?" Sasha smiled. She knew that Natsuko was supposed to have a blind date on Saturday.

"Oh, please, it was a complete disaster." Natsuko just waved her hand. "He wrote that he's a manager in a big company but it turned out that he's just started to work as a helper." Natsuko rolled her eyes and Sasha laughed and shook her head lightly.

They boarded the lift and continued with their conversation.

"Ne, Sasha, did you hear the big news?" Natsuko leaned closer to her friend. Sasha knitted her eyebrows.

"What big news?"

"That the BIG BOSS is coming here today." Natsuko replied with dramatic whisper.

"Big Boss? Who's that?" Sasha had no clue what's her colleague talking about. Natsuko's eyes almost popped out from surprise.

"You don't know who the big boss is?" Sasha just shook her head. Natsuko slapped her forehead desperately.

"Ok. I'll tell you…" She started but at that moment they reached their floor and were immediately greeted by a vigorous atmosphere in the room. Everyone was running around randomly as they tried to make everything perfect before arrival of the owner.

Sasha and Natsuko just looked at each other and went to their places postponing their conversation for more appropriate time.

After an hour of diligent work Sasha finally stretched her back and arms. _It's complete. Hurray._ _Now I'm prepared for the 'big boss'._ She looked out to see whether Natsuko is free but unfortunately she couldn't see her anywhere.

Sasha shrugged her shoulders and went to the toilet. Two coffees and four glasses of water found their way and she rushed to the cabin. Just as she wanted to get up she heard someone entering the room.

"Hey, did you hear it? That Mimasaka Akira is coming to our office?" A woman's voice full of excitement filled the narrow room. Sasha didn't know why but she was suddenly very curious about this unexpected conversation.

"Yes, I did. I still can't believe it! When I heard it I had to pinch myself that I'm awake." Another woman's voice answered the first one.

Sasha just rolled her eyes. _I wonder what can be so exciting about one man's visit. _

"Do you think that we stand a chance? He's still the famous playboy of F4, he can choose from any woman in the town."

_Oh. My. God. _

"Well, who knows, he might be fed up with those high-class b*tches fawning all over him. I've heard that he likes older women."

Sasha almost left out an unbelieving frown. _Gosh. Now I'd like to meet him. _She thought ironically. She wanted to ask those two ladies how much older he likes his women to be. _Just for an example._

"But you know it's kind of dangerous to get involved with him." Sasha's attention rose._ Is it?_

"Do you mean that he's the head-boss of the biggest Yakuza group in Japan?" Sasha almost fell from the closet. _WHAT? A YAKUZA? Like gangsters? What is this place? A building company or a secret organization dealing with drugs?_ She was completely flabbergasted.

"I personally wouldn't mind that. I think it's cool. Can you imagine it? Being a wife of such handsome and dangerous man." The woman let out a sigh full of desire that made Sasha to feel like throwing up.

"Yeah, that would be fabulous!" The laughed together and finally left the lavatory.

Sasha waited for a minute and then came out of her cabin. She saw her surprised and stunned look at the mirror and she had to laugh. She shook her head as she washed her hands. _So our boss is a head of Yakuza… playboy loving older women… supposingly handsome… and definitely rich…_Sasha stopped in her thoughts. _I guess that's the main reason for the girls following him._ She slowly returned to her seat, lost in her thoughts. _I suppose it's one of the differences between Japanese and me. I think boss is a boss, no matter how handsome or rich he may be. It's still my boss and that's all. And it's definitely the shortest way to hell to start a relationship at your work, nevertheless with a boss._ Sasha looked up and saw her first line supervisor – fifty-something old, almost bald, and short._ I don't need to worry about myself in this case._ She shortly giggled to herself.

"Sasha? It's time to go to the meeting room. Mimasaka-sama has just arrived." Her boss called her.

Sasha smiled and put all the necessary things into her arms. "Yes, I'm coming." When she turned for a moment she thought she saw a familiar figure but it vanished in an instant. She put the feeling aside and followed her colleagues to the meeting room.

She sat down on her designated place and prepared papers for her presentation later. Her boss started to talk and Sasha's look curiously flew towards the head of the table where the 'head-boss' was supposed to sit. When she saw his face, her eyes almost popped out and she quickly put up her folder. _HOLY JESUS! _

She peeked over the file and when she confirmed the identity of the man sitting there as the same person she showered with wine on Friday evening, she wanted to be fifteen floors and 20 metres under the ground. _Now I'm a dead meat. Perhaps I'll soon be a food for sharks._ She hit her head with the folder several times before she realized what she's doing and where she's doing it. Some of her colleagues watched her worryingly. She smiled awkwardly and just when she lowered her head again she heard her boss calling her.

"Miss Novak? Miss Novak! Sasha!"

"Y-Yes!" She almost jumped from her seat as she swallowed hard.

"It's the time for your presentation." Her boss gave her a warning stare. Unwillingly, she got up and stumbled all the way to the front of the table where the notebook with her presentation in PowerPoint was placed.

Akira was sitting at the head of the table and was trying to hide his boredom. At first, he was quite interested in learning something new so he kind of gladly accepted his father's request to attend this meeting but right at the entrance he was met with adoring looks of all the women stuff that would please him some other time but today they just annoyed him and the opening talk of the manager also didn't catch his attention. His interest was suddenly picked when he heard a noisy movement of a chair somewhere at the other end of the room. He saw a young woman who almost tripped over the chair leg but somehow she managed to stand. _Another one who seems to be nervous because of me._ He secretly sighed but then his eyes slightly widened as he recognized the face of the girl standing nervously in front of the table. _What is SHE doing here?_ His face darkened and strangely, he felt light disappointment. _So it wasn't a coincidence that I met her on Friday. Sorry to disappoint you, lady, I'm not interested._ Akira leaned against the chair and watched Sasha's struggling now with his full attention.

Sasha finally reached the table with laptop and she tried desperately to remember what she was going to say and what key to press to play the presentation. She took a deep breath. _Relax. You will not make a fool out of yourself in front of these people. It took you too much of your effort to make it up to here._ She tried to calm herself.

She lifted her eyes only to see an upset look of her boss. She cleared her throat, put a smile on her face and started.

"As Mr. Takayama said, we have just got a planning permit for our next big project of residential housing in …" As she continued talking Sasha regained her confidence again and was able to convey all of her thoughts clearly and in such way that even Akira, who didn't know much about building constructions, could easily understand the project and necessary procedures that precede the start of construction itself.

"…So now I give word to Mr. Sakamoto for the economical aspect of this project." Sasha finished her presentation and returned to her seat. She sat down totally exhausted as the last fifteen minutes took out all of her energy. _Now I just have to survive till the end of this meeting and then quickly disappear from this room and his sight._

But the luck wasn't on her side today. As she wanted to run away from the room her boss ordered her to collect all the prospects and clean up the laptop for presentations. Although she tried to give him a pleading look, it didn't work out at all. She sighed and hoped that Akira will leave the room and won't notice her. She kept her head down as she was quickly doing her task. Once she heard the door closing she sighed in relief.

"Well, what a nice surprise." Sasha petrified when she heard Akira's voice from the other side of the room. She didn't miss the irony in his words and swallowed hard. Slowly she turned to him with an artificial smile pasted on her lips. She laughed shortly from embarrassment, unsure of what to say.

"Ehm, really?" She managed to say after a pregnant pause of silence. "Honestly, I didn't think that from all places I would get to meet you right here and now."

Akira lifted his right eyebrow. "Well, life is full of surprises. Sometimes it's pleasant and sometimes not." _ Like our meeting on Friday._

Sasha's forehead wrinkled as she didn't quite understand the meaning of his words. There was a hidden threat inside them. _What is he talking about? Me or the shirt?_

"Ehm," She cleared her throat and continued her doing. "I tried to clean the shirt but I wasn't very successful because it's made from silk and it's almost impossible to remove the wine from this material without destroying it. So, if you don't mind, I will buy you a new one." _Although it might cost me half of my monthly wage or more._ But she didn't say this aloud and just gave him an apologetic look.

Akira stood there surprised by the course their conversation took. One moment he's talking about her not very original attempt in pursuing him and the next moment she's talking about his shirt.

"Ehm… I… I didn't mean…" Akira was stumbling over his words.

"Is it a problem? Was that shirt really dear to you?" Sasha face was filled with anxiety. Remembering the conversation from the toilet she didn't know what to expect and tried to prepare herself for the worst scenario.

"No, I have more than enough of white shirts. I wasn't talking about the shirt or the wine." He tried to explain.

"I see. And what were you talking about?" Seeing her unaware questioning look he got suddenly embarrassed. _I would look like a man with biggest ego in the world if I confess what I really thought._

"Well, it doesn't matter actually." He concealed his true idea.

Sasha shrugged her shoulders and finished packing the laptop. Then she turned to Akira again.

"I still think that I should buy you a new shirt or do something for you." Akira lifted his eyebrow again. _So here it comes, the invitation for a dinner._ He almost smirked contently. _And I thought she might be different than other girls._

"One of the options would be to invite you for a home-made dinner but that would be highly inappropriate because you're my boss and I also don't know if you would like my country's cuisine." Sasha stated matter-of-factly. And she got him again.

"But you also don't behave like I'm your boss." Akira pointed out when he regained his wittiness.

"Really? I'm sorry." She smiled apologetically. "In my previous work, we had a very close relationship in our collective and my boss then became one of my best friends." Akira didn't know why but he got very curious about this previous work of hers.

"Anyway, I will fix this imperfection in my behaviour immediately." Sasha continued and slightly bowed.

"It's ok, don't worry about that." _It's actually nice to meet someone outside F4 who doesn't treat me like some kind of rare species. _He smiled lightly.

Sasha looked at Akira surprised by his statement. He opened the door for her and they left the conference room together. Immediately after that Akira's attention was captured by a group of executive directors and managers so Sasha just bowed to him and returned quickly to her seat.

_This was the most peculiar conversation I've ever had. And I still don't know if he wants a new shirt or something else._ She thought. Then she just shook her head trying to get rid of her improper thoughts and returned to her work.

* * *

So? Did you like it? :-)


	3. Chapter 3

Hi, so here's chapter 3 :-)

To Di: I'm glad you find it funny and thanks a lot for your praise. :-)

To MatsuJun lover: Alright, alright, I admit :-) Sasha is based on me... actually a lot... BUT she's not me and I'm not her. She's much milder and better version of myself. :-)))

Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well :-)

**

* * *

****Chapter 3**

In the next few days Sasha was too busy to think about anything else except for the project. There were so many different things to do that she barely had a time to have her lunch. Because the procedures differentiated from those in Europe and she had to study many regulations to prepare everything correctly. But despite all of these, she couldn't be happier anywhere else than at her current place.

On Friday evening Sasha still had so many things to finish that she decided to stay at work longer than her colleagues. She declined Natsuko's invitation for drink with her friends and stayed at the office.

When Sasha finished typing the last document needed for a building permit for engineering networks, she stretched her arms and relieved the tension in her shoulders. She looked around and found out that everyone has already left and she's the only one remaining. She looked at her monitor. _It's already 8 o'clock. No wonder I'm the last one here._ She sighed. _I should go home..._ She noticed the darkness behind the windows. The lights of night city were bright but somehow she didn't feel the desire to leave her spot. She took the project of the house and headed towards a meeting room with big table. She wanted to check the plans if there is everything alright and the flats are functional and usable the best way they can be.

She laid out the plan of the first floor, put on the earphones of her mp3 player and pressed the play button. She started to check the plan while humming the melody.

**oOo**

Akira's week has been hectic as well. Several urgent problems occured in their Korean's branch and his presence there was necessary to solve it. He spent there three exhausting days but he managed to settle everything down. He felt contented although he didn't sleep much and was also tired from the flight, even though it took only about two hours.

When he sat down in his limousine he wanted to head back home immediately but he changed his mind and ordered the driver to take him to his favourite club.

As he relaxed in his seat, he realized it's Friday again and his mind flew back to the last Friday's evening and then to Monday's meeting with Sasha. He still couldn't figure out what kind of woman she is. All of his predictions proved to be false so far. If he thought about it objectively, she's not even the type of woman he usually courts. _She's no exquisite beauty although she's quite pretty, she's not from rich family, she's not Japanese... she also doesn't seem to be interested in me... So why do I even think about her?_ Akira looked blindly out of the window. Suddenly the visit of night club didn't seem interesting at all. Without a reasonable argument he asked the driver to take him to the building where their branch of building company had the office. _Maybe I could check up on the project when I'm already in town and close to the office._ He tried to persuade himself but deep inside his mind a distant voice told him that he must definitely have gone crazy. He decided to ignore his rational mind and checked the time. 9 o'clock. _Is there even a chance that anyone would be there at this hour? _He doubted but still let the car to be driven in the same direction.

When the car finally stopped in front of the building Akira was utterly surprised to see the lights were still on on the floor where the office was.

He felt a hint of sudden expectation deep inside and got off the car. The porter confirmed that there is still one person there and Akira almost ran to the elevator. On his way there he was thinking why he's so enthusiastic about seeing Sasha. Before he could come to a solution, the door of the lift opened and he eagerly entered and pushed the button to the fifteen's floor.

He got off the elevator and his eyes searched quickly the seemingly empty space. He felt a little throb of disappointment. _See? She's not here. _His mind answered with ironic satisfaction. If he could he would slap himself. He turned to leave but something caught his attention. It was coming from the other side of the office where the meeting room was situated. He slowly walked towards the place and as he was closing in he heard someone singing.

"…_Can anyone explain the thrill of a kiss, no… no… no…"_

_A woman?_ His curiosity rose and he quietly opened the door of the room. His eyes widened when he saw Sasha sitting there with eyes closed and singing aloud some English song. She had a peculiar hairstyle with her hair out of her face gathered in a short ponytail at the back of her head and several hairpins holding her fringe back as well. But still, despite her funny appearance, he had to admit she wasn't a bad singer. He also saw the plans on the table and realized that it wasn't some strange hobby of hers to sing at the office after working hours but that she's probably just having a break. He shook his head and silently laughed when she stumbled over the words with unsatisfied growl. In fact, she gave quite a performance as she was making faces and sort of dancing in her chair while singing. It took him all of his willpower not to laugh loud. He decided to softly speak up because he didn't want to startle her.

"Good evening." When Sasha heard someone suddenly speaking, her heart stopped for a second and her hand flew to her chest. Her head jerked towards the door and she almost twisted her neck with the sudden movement.

"Do you want to kill me?" The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them. When she realized WHO is standing there, her heart skipped the beat again. _What the hell is HE doing here?_

"Oh, sorry, I didn't want to scare you." Akira said apologetically.

Sasha calmed down a bit, stopped the player and took out the earphones. "That's ok, I just didn't expect anyone to come here so late in night. " She smiled at him lightly. _Mainly I didn't expect YOU... _

There was a short silence in which Sasha realized another thing.

"H-How long have you been here?" She asked although she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Well..." Akira knew that it would be gentlemanly to say that he's just arrived but he couldn't resist teasing her for once. "I've been here for quite a while." He watched as the colour of Sasha's face turn to crimson red. He was smiling like crazy but Sasha didn't see it because she was trying to bury her head in the table._This is the biggest flub in my life. _She thought as she studied the structure of the desk.

Akira finally took mercy on her and came closer to her.

"What are you doing?" Sasha was grateful for the change and answered.

"I'm checking up on the project. Things like if everything is in the right order - from the technical and usable side."

"And what is this?" Akira pointed to the photocopies of several flats repainted with red marker.

"Oh, this?" Sasha smiled embarrassedly. "I tried to think about possible changes in the flats or joining two flats into one. It's just a hobby." Akira looked at her surprised.

"A hobby? Joining flats?" He could think about countless things anyone would choose for a hobby but not this one.

"I mean, ehm, when the future customer would want something we don't offer in the basic concept then we should be able to come up with his requested adjustment of our project. Then we wouldn't lose him as a customer. I think we need to be flexible and adapt to the demands of our clients."

Akira nodded as he understood her reasons. He would have never thought about this in terms of the building constructions but he knew that this was one of the laws of survival in his type of bussiness. Surely he knew that flexibility and the ability to adjust in every situation is crucial in life as well. And he knew that better than anyone else. His life was in constant danger and without these two features he would surely be dead by this time.

"How long do you plan to stay here?" He asked because he didn't want to think about the dark aspects of his life, at least not now.

Sasha wrinkled her nose. "What's the time now?"

"It's past 9.30."

"So late? I thought I'd leave by 9 o'clock." She scratched her head and realized that she probably looks really ridiculously. _Aah,_ _Whatever. He saw me singing and behaving like a complete fool already._ She thought but still took at least the hairpins out and then started to clean up the project and her papers.

"I'll help you." Akira offered his help and took the pack with the project documentation. It was surprisingly heavy.

"Thanks." Sasha led the way back to her desk with Akira following her.

"You can leave it here." She pointed to the right corner of the table. She turned off her computer and took her bag.

"Ok, I'm ready, we can go."

They boarded the elevator and Sasha turned to Akira curiously.

"By the way, why did you come today? And so late..." She was eagerly waiting for his answer.

Akira was short of words. He had no idea what kind of excuse to come up with.

"Well, I was near and saw the lights were still on so I was curious who is so hard-working." He decided for a half-truth.

"Oh, I see." Sasha wasn't persuaded by this but she stayed silent.

They got off the elevator in the basement and said goodbye to the porter. Once outside the building they stopped by Akira's car.

"Ok, so, have a nice evening and weekend." Sasha smiled, lightly bowed and wanted to go the underground station but Akira stopped her.

"Where do you live? I'll take you there."

"Oh, no need, thanks. Trains are still running and I don't want to bother you." Sasha refused his offer.

"But I insist. It's quite late and I wouldn't like the thought of you walking home alone." Akira didn't want to take her 'no' as an answer.

_Why does he care? _Sasha didn't know how to refuse him politely. "B-But it's quite far away, I really don't..." She was cut off when Akira opened the door of the car and simply caught her arm and led her towards the car. Sasha unwillingly resigned and sat down. Her eyes widened when she saw the inside of the limousine and touched the finest leather.

"Really nice car." She said to Akira appreciatingly when he sat opposite to her. "Do you always ride in this?" She asked as she was looking around the interior.

Akira smiled contently. _I knew it. The luxurious things always work._ "No. It's just for special occasions."

Sasha gave him a surprised look. "Do you have something special planned for this evening? Then don't bother with me, I can go home on my own." She wanted to get off the car but they were already moving.

"No, no." Akira stopped her and silently bit his tongue. "I came from Korea today so I didn't want to drive that's why I asked my driver to pick me up."

Sasha relaxed in her seat after his explanation although she still wondered over his actions. _He just came from Korea and went to check whether someone is working in one of his companies? He's either crazy workaholic or he's not saying the truth. _

"So, where are we going?" He asked and Sasha gave him her adress which he passed to his driver.

The car filled with silence. It was quite pleasant even though Sasha turned her sight from the window from time to time to look at Akira who was sitting quietly in his seat. He closed his eyes and gave her a great opportunity to study his features.

_He looks really tired._ She thought when she saw dark circles under his eyes and small wrinkles around his mouth. He was dressed in a black suit with white shirt and black tie which was now loosened. The jacket was opened and she could see his flat stomach underneath the tightly fitting shirt. She continued down to his legs hidden in black trousers. _He's rather skinny. He needs wife to put on some weight._ She smiled silently to herself. It was usual in her country that when a man marries, he puts on a weight because his wife cooks his meals for him. _Although I'm not sure it's the same with Japanese._

She was still chuckling when Akira suddenly opened his eyes and Sasha's cheeks got pink. She smiled at him and embarrassedly turned her look back to the streets behind the window.

Akira knew about her all the time. He felt her sight on him but didn't want to disturb her scrutiny. _Let her look. She'll see what she's forfeiting._ He wasn't such egoist to think that every woman wants him but somehow, with her, it became really important for him to make an impression. _Good impression._

Their silent ride continued until the car stopped in front of an apartment building in Asakusa, one of the parts of Tokyo. Sasha got off the car as well as Akira.

"Thank you for the ride. I really appreciate it." She smiled at Akira. He just waved his hand.

"No problem." They stood there for a moment, both uncertain what to say.

"So, good bye and have a nice weekend." Sasha bowed slightly.

"You too."

"By the way, " Sasha remembered their unfinished bussiness. "You still didn't tell me if you want a new shirt or something else."

Akira thought about it for a moment. "Well, I completely forgot about it. I wanted to let it be but if you insist, I'll think about something. I have tuns of white shirts so I'll choose the second option." And he gave her a mischievous smile.

"Should I be scared?" Sasha asked him cautiously but Akira didn't answer and just continued smiling. He sat down in the car again and pulled down the window.

"Sasha?"

"Yes?"

"I forgot to tell you that you sing quite well." Sasha just closed her eyes, totally embarrassed by the memory. _I knew he wouldn't let me forget it._

"Thank you." She replied slowly with red face.

"Good bye." Akira pulled the window back up and gave the driver the sign to leave. He was satisfied by the way the evening went and his mood was more than good. _Now I can go home._

"Good bye." Sasha sighed as she watched the leaving car. _Just what have I got myself into?_ She wondered reminiscing all three meetings with Akira. She got serious all of sudden and her face clouded. She felt a strange and heavy weight in her chest. She shook her head to wake herself from the sudden emotinal state and turned back to the house. Although she managed to surpress the strange feeling deep inside her heart, she knew that Akira might be very dangerous and throw her out of her peaceful state of mind. And this thought was what made her extremely scared.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for your comments :-)

to Matsujunlover: well, he's the top mafia boss so of course he has a great intuition :-D I hope you'll their next encounter :-)

to Di: Thank you very much for your lovely comment. I'm really happy that you understood the last paragraph the way I wanted to express it. :-) Yes, I saw the first season of meteor garden, beginning and end of the second season (I wasn't ready for nearly 30 episodes of Shan Cai's and Dao Ming Si's separation), half of Boys over flowers (:-), first half was swift with horrible music, the second half was dragging with nice but unfitting music) and I also saw the chinese version (I quite liked the little changes they made in the characters). But I must say I still like the japanese one the most :-)

Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well :-)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Sasha spent her weekend trying not to think about what could possibly be the thing Akira will want her to do, so when she entered the office on Monday morning, she was equally tired as she was on Friday evening.

She absolutely wasn't in a mood to chit chat with Natsuko who met, at least according to her own words, 'the most wonderful man on Earth'. Sasha just rolled her eyes and wished her luck. It was at least fifth 'most wonderful man' since she knew her. Fortunatelly she had so much work she didn't have time to think about anything else and for the first time in her life she was thankful for it.

Days went by and suddenly it was almost two weeks since she saw Akira for the last time. Somehow it made her worried and relieved at the same time. Sasha herself didn't know what to think about her contradictory feelings and honestly said, she didn't want to think about it as well. _Well, it's better this way. Out of sight, out of mind._ She thought.

In the next few days they finally obtained the last planning permit and Sasha and her colleagues decided to celebrate this success in their favourite club.

They arrived to the place and sat next to the dancing floor. Sasha ordered whole bottle of plum wine instead of her usual one glass of red wine. She wanted to enjoy this celebration because after all the stress at work she felt quite exhausted and drinking and dancing was the best way to release all the tension.

Sasha was having great time with her colleagues and she completely shocked Natsuko when she went to the dance floor as a first person from their group. She's never done it before; before she always refused and just watched her friends. But today she was like a totally new Sasha that they never met before. When they asked her curiously about this sudden change, she just laughed and shrugged.

"Well, what can I say? I tried really hard to be a decent and representative office lady but I guess it's impossible to hide myself for too long." And with that she left her flabbergasted friends and went to the bar to order a second bottle of wine while humming the melody they were just playing.

The evening went on and all of them were having great time when the D.J. announced an unexpected event.

"Dear ladies and gentlemen, our dear owner is glad to see you all happy and enjoying yourselves. He would like to offer you a special contest in which getting the first place means that all of yours and your friends' drinks tonight will be paid by him. This is a singing contest so I'd like to invite those who can sing... or those who think they can sing and ask them to muster their courage and come here to me."

Most of the people laughed when the heard the part "...who think they can sing...", but there were still some brave ones who, after a short time of hesitating, went to the small podium.

"They are totally crazy." Sasha commented. She covered her ears during one very bad contestant and leaned towards Natsuko with big smile.

"Do you want to try it? I'm sure you can sing much better than this one." Natsuko shot a glace Sasha's way and shook her head vigorously.

"No, thanks, I'm not that drunk yet."

Sasha laughed. "That's a pity. I'd better listen to you than to him." And she pointed to the podium. Natsuko stopped for a moment and a mischievous flame appeared in her eyes.

"Why don't you try it?"

Sasha looked at her with pure amusement in her eyes. "Well, it's true I'm quite drunk but I didn't lose my mind yet. I may used to sing in a choir but that was loooong time ago, in a galaxy far far away." She paraphrased the Star Wars opening motto.

"You used to sing in a choir? Then you can sing!" And before Sasha could say anything, all of her friends started to push her from her seat.

"B-But I really don't sing that well..." She tried to protest but a voice from behind made her stop as well as her friends.

"You're underestimating yourself. I heard you and it's not that bad." They all turned and saw Akira standing behind them with a soft smile on his lips.

_What is HE doing here?... _The question went through Sasha's brain. _Gosh, I ask myself this question everytime I see him. Is he a ghost? Always appearing out of nowhere... I should ask him. _Sasha thought and because she drank quite a lot, she opened her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" She heard the shocked gasp of her friends and turned to them with confused look. _What? Can't I ask him a simple question?_

She turned back to Akira who was enjoying the view of tipsy Sasha. _She's really funny and absolutely fearless. Even her friends are fully aware of my high status but she's treating me like someone of her kind. _He couldn't help himself and was just amused.

"Why? Can't I be here? This is my club after all."

"Really? Congratulation. But, wait, you're the owner?"

"Yes, I've just said it." Akira smiled.

"And this contest was your idea?" Sasha's speed of thinking was heavily slowed down by the alcohol.

"Yes." He replied still calm.

"Did you, by any chance, saw me, us, here and decided to put up such contest while hoping that I would particiate and humiliating myself?" Somewhere in distant and hazy shades of her normally clear mind Sasha knew it's absolutely ridiculous assumption but she couldn't help but ask such a stupid question.

"No, how can you think something like that about me? It's just a part customer's service." Akira answered with hurt smile and touched exaggeratedly his heart. In fact, he didn't know she was here until he saw her friends pushing her towards the podium.

"But now that you mentioned it, you still owe me something, don't you? So now you have a great opportunity to pay it off. At least, part of it." Sasha unwillingly remembered her offer from two weeks ago. _I knew he was going to use it against me. Now I wish I've never said those words._

When Natsuko saw that Akira seemed to be behaving normally she approached him and Sasha.

"Sasha, what about your singing? We are really curious to hear you and think about the prize. We could have all our drinks for free." She tried persuading her friend.

Sasha finally gave up and unwillingly walked to the podium. On her way there she thought about how she could avoid this embarrassment. It wasn't that she didn't want to fulfil her promise but she wasn't eager to show herself in front of a bunch of unknown people either. A sudden idea came to her mind. She started to smile contently.

She turned to Akira who was following her, just in case she would want to run away.

"I've thought about what I want to sing." Her smile proved to Akira that she's found a way how to avoid singing. _But it's not going to happen, my dear. You'll sing even if you don't want to._ He thought. This situation gave him a chance to see whether she has the guts to expose herself to a possible ridicule or if she back away from the challenge.

"Yes?"

"You made me love you." Sasha said and completely shocked Akira.

"W-What?"

"What what?" Sasha belatedly realized the meaning of the words.

"Oh… No, no, no, no way. It's the name of the song!" She waved her hand vigorously and started to giggle seeing totally flabbergasted Akira.

"Oh...Oh, I see." He managed to say still disturbed by her previous words.

"And whose song is it?"

Sasha was shining like sun. "Olivia Newton-John." _There's no way they would have her songs in this high class, modern club._ She thought absolutely convinced about it.

"Who's that?" Akira has never heard that name before.

"An Australian singer." Sasha answered with faked innocence.

"So you want to sing a song from Olivia Newton-John? Good choice. I'm also her fan and fortunately for you, I have all of her songs here with me." The D.J.'s words wiped off the smile from Sasha's face. It was replaced by pure horror. She watched him in disbelief and then turned her sight to the sky. _Why, oh, why, God? Why do I meet the only fan of Olivia Newton–John in whole Japan RIGHT HERE?_ She was almost crying, desperate that her bluff was just blown off. Akira on the other hand was more than satisfied.

Sasha was left standing alone on the podium. She looked down and when she saw all the faces waiting for her to start, she didn't feel very well. She closed her eyes for a second and deeply inhaled. _What's destined to happen will happen. If I'm going to sink, I will go down with magnificence… Like Titanic._

The music started to play and Sasha started to sing. It was a romantic song just like it was cut right from the American club in 1940's.

_(the song - .com/watch?v=xs1mVlERNZo)_

I've been worried all day long  
Don't know if I'm right or wrong  
I can't help just what I say  
Your love makes me speak this way  
_  
_She was giving it her all, singing like she was the one confessing her love.

_Why__, oh why should I feel blue  
once I used to laugh at you  
but now I'm cryin'  
No use denyin'  
that no one else but you will do.  
__  
_Her sight was travelling through the space until she found Akira sitting with her friends and watching her.

_You made me love you  
I didn__'t wanna do it  
I didn't wanna do it  
you made me want you  
and all the time you knew it  
I guess you always knew it  
_

She couldn't tear her eyes away from him so she closed them instead.

_You made me happy sometimes  
you made me glad  
but there were times, dear  
you made me feel so bad_

That helped her to wake up from the trance. She continued singing and she did her best to avoid Akira's eyes.

_You made me sigh for  
I didn__'t wanna tell ya  
I didn't wanna tell ya  
I want some love, that's true  
Yes I do, deed I do  
You know I do  
_

But it was like a magnet and she ended up looking into his eyes again.

_Gimme__, gimme what I cry for  
You know you've got the  
Kind of kisses  
That I'd die for  
You know  
You made me love you _

She finished the song and her audience applauded. Sasha smile shyly and quickly left the podium. She rushed to the toilet. She washed her face with cold water and looked at her reflexion in the mirror. She couldn't forget the look in Akira's eyes while she was singing and her own reaction to it. _Why did I choose such song? I'm sooo stupid. I should have known..._ She didn't finish the thought. She hung her head down. _I'm drunk. I need to go home and sleep._

The cold water helped her to sober up a bit. Sasha dried her face and fixed her hair. Then she returned to her friends. They showered her with praise which she hesitatingly accepted. They also told her that thanks to her they won the first prize. Sasha looked at Akira.

"Are you sure it wasn't out of backstairs influence?" Akira didn't have to answer because Natsuko replied instead of him.

"Sasha! How can you say something like that? The people here were the jury, not Mimasaka-sama."

"Sorry." Sasha muttered her apology. "Well, then I'm glad that my imperfect singing was enough to win. Now if you would excuse me, I'm quite tired and want to go home."

A wave of complaints rose as her friends tried to persuade her to stay. Sasha just shook her head and gathered her things.

Akira stood up. "My driver will take you home." It made the whole table go silent. Sasha stopped in her tracks and blinked several times.

"Thanks but it's not necessary, I can still catch the last train." She tried to leave but Akira held her hand.

"But I must insist, I cannot possibly let you go home alone. This also stands for all of you here, part of the prize." Akira smiled at completely flabbergasted people around the table.

Sasha was also totally amazed by his answer.

"You also seem to be quite drunk." He added towards Sasha. That stirred up her anger.

"Well, thank you very much." She replied ironically and turned on a heel to leave but she staggered at the very moment. Akira helped her to regain balance.

"See? Just as I said. Come on, I'll walk you to the car. Let's go." And without giving her time to complain, he said goodbye to still dumbfounded group around the table and pulled Sasha all the way out of the club.

"Hey, let go!" Sasha finally managed to set free her hand from Akira's grasp. They both stopped in front of the club and in front of the car that was already prepared. Akira didn't say a word and just watched her waiting for her decision. Not that he was giving her any options.

"Fine, I'll go." A quick look at watch told her that the last train has just left. With a heavy sigh, she got in the car. She sat down by the window but she almost jumped out again when she saw Akira sitting next to her.

"W-What are you doing? You said that the driver will take me home, not a word about your going too!"

"Well, I changed my mind. You can't be trusted. I suspect you would try to stop the car just around the corner and get off.

Sasha looked at him over the top of her glasses, sceptic expression all over her face. "You have very vivid imagination. First, the last train already left and second, I doubt your driver would listen to me." With another sigh she turned to the window.

Akira had to admit that she's right but still he wanted to be sure she'll reach home safely. He could let the driver to take her there but he also wanted to enjoy her presence a bit longer. He knew it wasn't a good idea but he couldn't help himself. After he heard her singing and saw her expression, he wanted to ask her if she was just playing out the role or there was something more into it. He hesitated, trying to find the right way to ask her when she suddenly broke the silence.

"Hey, Akira-kun, what is it like to be a mafia boss?" Akira's eyes almost popped out first by hearing his name coming from her mouth and second for hearing such outrageous question.

"W-What?"

"What is it like to be a mafia boss?" Sasha repeated and looked at him. "Or is it a forbidden question?"

Akira could see a real interest in her eyes. He breathed in.

"Well, no, but no one has ever asked me about this." Sasha chuckled and nodded.

"I suppose everyone is too scared to ask. Fearing you might kill them just because of that."

Akira looked at her curiously, wondering what made her to ask him and why her mood changed so unexpectedly.

"And you're not afraid I might want to kill you because you ask such question?"

Sasha laughed. "No. Why would you do that? I'm not asking you to reveal some kind of dark secret. And I'm too small fish to kill anyway."

Akira had to laugh. _She's simply unbelievable._ He shook his head.

"So?" Sasha was still waiting for his reply.

"Do you really want to know it?" He thought that she was just joking.

"Sure, otherwise I wouldn't ask."

"Hmmm…" Akira started to seriously think about her question. "Well, it has its advantages as well as disadvantages."

"Like what? For example…"

He felt like he was taking a difficult exam. "Like…" _God, what should I say?_

"Wine, women…" Sasha was suggesting with eyes full of laughter.

"Like… Yes." Akira nodded with smile.

"And disadvantages?" Suddenly all the cheerfulness was gone. The car was once again filled with silence.

"Well, perhaps the constant danger my life is in but I got used to it long time ago so I don't feel it as a disadvantage now. It's just a part of my life." He answered honestly.

Sasha nodded and turned to the window again.

"Aren't you lonely?" Her silent question hit him like a hammer. She got the nail on head. For a long moment his mind was blank and he didn't know what to answer.

"I am." But it was Sasha who said those two quiet words. Akira was completely speechless.

"Well, I thought you found good friends at work." He managed to say. Sasha smirked.

"Yeah, I did. I have friends here and at home… And family, of course, but that's not what I meant. Sometimes, even when I'm in the middle of big group of people, I suddenly feel very lonely." She paused for a second. "It's like I'm alone in an empty bubble with nothing more than vacuum around me. No exits, just cold empty space."

Akira felt a sting of pain in his chest. This girl described the feeling so well that he instantly knew that this was what he was starting to realize lately. He always kept himself occupied with work and girls and he never wanted to admit that he, in fact, feels very lonely, as a person and as a man. They all saw just Mimasaka Akira, the heir of Mimasaka group and the playboy of F4. Not many were able and allowed to see Mimasaka Akira, the man.

"Oh, what am I saying? I'm sorry, the wine must have gotten into my brain." Sasha smiled apologetically to Akira. The car slowed down and then stopped in front of Sasha's apartment building. She quickly got off. Then she bowed down to Akira who remained sitting inside.

"Thank you for the ride and again, I'm sorry for my sentimental blabbering, please forget about it." She smiled one last time and quickly walked to the entrance of the house.

Akira gave driver the signal to leave and sighed. He closed his eyes and scratched his forehead. He got a lot of things to think about during this drive and his head started to hurt. _It seems like I got myself into a really big trouble. Maybe I should ask Soujirou…_ His face clouded and he quickly scratched the idea. _No, he's got a lot of problems himself._ Akira leaned against the seat and sighed again. He gave up trying to come up with anything reasonable for the moment. _Better to sleep on it. _He thought.

_S_till, deep inside he knew that he can't avoid sorting out his own feelings for too long.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for all of your reviews :-)

to Di: You have no idea how happy I am to hear that I describe the emotions well. :-)

I think there is also going to be (or already is) a Philipine's version of HYD and I'm quite curious about it, I hope I'll get a chance to see it somewhere on the internet. :-)

to Matsujun lover: To me, this story is more about emotions we all feel when we are falling in love, all the insecurities, fears and also joy :-), so I try to express their feelings more than just concentrate on the plot... So I'm really glad you like it and I hope I'll be successful in it till the end ^-^

And I also like MatsuJun, he was like a little devil popping out of the box in HYD but he also showed the depth of Doumyouji Tsukasa's soul and I simply loved him. :-) Honestly I liked him in everything I so him in so far. :-)

to Books are mi advantures: Thanks for your comment :-) I can't say I'm sorry for getting you hooked on my story 'cause I'm really happy because of it :-)

and I also thank lluminating-Darkness for the comment, I've sent my answer through pm :-)

Now, after my usual blabbering, enjoy the chapter :-)

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Annoying sound of alarm-clock woke Sasha up next morning precisely at 6.30. She stretched her hand and cut it off. Still with her eyes closed she rolled out of the bed and went to the bathroom. She supported her head with both hands while sitting on a toilet. It was there where she remembered the events of the previous evening. She slowly opened her eyes, her face constricted and she closed her eyes again while having a painful expression. _Oh my god, what was I thinking last night?_ The events flew into her mind one by one. At that moment she wanted to be buried in some unknown place far away from here. _Wait. This might come true quite quickly._ She thought with self-reprimanding irony when she remembered the talk with Akira inside the car.

Sasha sighed and entered the shower. She let the cold water to fall on her head to help her reasonable mind to come back. She slowly changed the temperature to warmer. Her thoughts stopped when she remembered the look in Akira's eyes when she was blabbering about her loneliness. It was like watching her own eyes in a mirror. Still deep in thought she stopped the water and automatically dried and dressed herself. _Why did he look like a lost child? And it seemed he knew exactly what I was talking about._

She poured herself a coffee and sat down by a table to eat her breakfast. Her hand with cup stopped halfway to her mouth. _And why did I have a feeling like he's in the bubble with me? _Sasha shook her head vigorously. _No, no, that's just your imagination, girl. Wake up._

"Wake up!" She told herself aloud and slapped her cheeks lightly. "There's no way a man like him would have something in common with you or be interested in you. And even if he would you wouldn't want a man of his kind." Sasha laughed shortly. "He's not even my type."

_So why do you keep on thinking about him? _A teasing voice echoed in her head.

_Well, because he's my boss so I must think about him from time to time. _She tried to justify herself.

_Really? Are you sure there's nothing more?_ The voice just didn't want to disappear.

_Yes, that's all._ She confirmed to herself.

_Hmph. _

Sasha waited for a second but she didn't hear any other comment. _God, I'm starting to be schizophrenic. _She cleaned up the table. Once again she stopped while putting the plate into the sink. _But I really don't want to be alone anymore._ She closed her eyes and sighed. The sadness in her chest threatened to surface. Sasha quickly blinked and looked at the clock. Her eyes widened when she realized the time.

"Damn, I'm going to be late." She quickly took her bag, put on shoes and her coat and ran out from her apartment.

**oOo**

She arrived to the office 10 minutes after 9 o'clock. Fortunately her boss was nowhere in sight so she managed to sit behind her desk without being noticed by him. Sasha sighed in relief and dropped her bag.

"Gottcha!" Sasha jumped in her chair and quickly turned herself to the voice behind her.

"Natsuko! I almost got a heart-attack!" Her friend just grinned.

"Hey, Sasha, how was your ride home yesterday?" Sasha got immediately alarmed wondering what are the reasons behind Natsuko's question.

"It was good, why?"

"Good?" A knowing smile went through her friend's face. Suddenly she moved her face closer to Sasha's. "But Mimasaka-sama went with you, didn't he? Don't try to deny it, I saw him getting on the car."

Sasha was speechless. "Ehm… And what do you want to hear?" She asked cautiously.

"Did he kiss you?"

"WHAT?" Sasha shouted.

"SHHHH." Natsuko clapped her hand over Sasha's mouth. "Quietly." She released her hold slowly.

"Are you crazy? How did you come up with such silly idea?" Sasha was utterly annoyed. _It's not enough that I have to deal with my own feelings, I have to deal with a bird-brained friend as well!_

"W-Well, he couldn't tear his eyes of you when you were singing and he offered us the ride just because you wanted to leave so I…" Natsuko stumbled and her voice slowly disappeared. Sasha sighed.

"It's just your imagination. He might be watching me during the contest but I'm sure that it has nothing to do with me, he was simply watching a contestant and enjoying the atmosphere. And about the offered transport? Well, aren't we his employees? Is there a reason that prohibits him to offer such thing to his subordinates? And I'm also quite sure he would offer it to anyone who would have won." Sasha tried to dismiss all of Natsuko's wild delusions.

"So… Nothing happened?" Natsuko's eyes were shining with last beam of hope.

"Absolutely nothing." _Liar._ "We didn't talk much in fact." _Double liar._ The voice of truth in her mind was slowly getting on her nerves.

"Ok." Natsuko left dejected.

Sasha waited until her friend was out of sight and finally relaxed. She did like Natsuko but sometimes she was just too much to bear. _Thanks God, she believed my explanation. It sounded totally unbelievable to me.._

Sasha sighed. The previous night just didn't want to leave her mind. Unable to decide whether to forget everything or dwell on it, Sasha finally reached the end of her mind road. _Whatever it is I feel, next time, when I meet him, I'll tell him honestly what's bothering me… If I muster the courage to do so._ She smiled lightly and partly calmed, she started to work. She knew that this is just beginning of unknown path and that once she steps on it, there's no turning back. But for the first time in her life she actually wanted to walk towards her future following this road.

**oOo**

Akira's morning wasn't so hectic because he got up earlier than usual and reached his office before 8 o'clock.

As well as Sasha, he couldn't stop recalling the previous evening and was bothered by his thoughts and feelings. Frustrated, he turned to the glass wall behind him and looked down to the busy streets of Tokyo. _This is so not like me, hovering over a woman! Why do I keep on thinking about her? _Remembering their first meeting he couldn't help but smile lightly. Then his smile evaporated and his face clouded. _What is it in her that makes me want to see her all the time? _He wondered. He has never been in such situation before. Every time he was interested in a woman he just went after her and, in fact, he didn't even have to try much, his name itself made quite an impact on ladies. _But not on this one. She's completely different._ He smirked. _Or she's a magnificent actress in pretending her lack of interest._ Akira solemnized again and shook his head. He could think that way until yesterday but not anymore. In the car, he unexpectedly saw a piece of her soul and he was completely stunned by it. After that brief moment of exposure he clearly saw her putting up the walls to hide her inner feelings again and at the very moment he wanted to stop her. He wanted to know more about this woman who invaded his life even though she didn't seem to care about the impact she made. He wanted to be the one to destroy the fortress she built around her heart and see all that's hidden behind its walls. The problem was, he just didn't know WHY he wanted to do it so much. And this thought brought him back to the beginning of the circle – why does he keep on thinking about her.

Akira sighed and looked up the sky. Then he heard a soft knocking and the door of his office slowly opened.

"Sir? Are you okay?" His secretary cautiously entered the room.

"Yes, I am. Why?" Akira smiled lightly.

"Because I called you through intercom but you didn't reply."

"Oh? Really?" Akira's smiled widened. "I'm sorry, I was thinking about something and didn't hear you."

His secretary nodded as she understood.

"So? What is the matter?" He asked.

"Mr. Takahashi is already here, can I send him in?" She announced his first meeting of the day.

"Sure, let him in. And, please, bring us two cups of coffee."

"Sure, sir." She let his guest inside and quietly closed the door. Akira pushed everything about Sasha deep inside his mind and concentrated on his work.

Unfortunately for him, once he finished off his schedule, all the thoughts, feelings and most of all the confusion returned to him like boomerang.

It was already dark outside, late night, and Akira was the only one remaining in the building. After brooding for several minutes, he finally gave up, picked up the phone and dialled Soujirou's number.

„Moshi moshi, Akira?" He heard his friend's voice.

„Ehm, Soujirou, do you think you could come to my office?" He managed to ask, still contemplating whether he should bother his friend or not.

„Yes, of course, is something wrong?" Soujirou was getting worried.

„No, I just need a friend, that's all." Akira just couldn't say more.

„I'll be there in a minute." He heard Soujirou's reply and they both hang up.

**oOo**

„So here I am." Soujirou said when he reached Akira's office on the highest level of the building.

Akira turned his chair to face his friend. Soujirou looked good but he could still see the trace of sadness in his eyes.

„So what's up? Is something bothering you?" Soujirou started when he sat down. „Or someone?" He added searchingly.

Akira was surprised by his friend's sharp remark. He watched him silently, uncertain what to say and when he couldn't stand Soujirou's look anymore, he turned to the window.

Soujirou continued watching his obviously nervous friend, wondering what might be the problem to make Akira so disturbed but he remained silent.

„Ne, Soujirou..."

„Yes?"

„Do you remember our talk about friendship and women?" Soujirou furrowed his eyebrows. [author's note: See chapter 14 of Catch me if you can ]

„Which talk do you... Ah, THAT talk... Yes, I do." Soujirou suddenly realized something. „Is this the problem?" His face showed an unbelievable amazement.

„A-Akira... Y-You... You fell in love?" Soujirou was completely flabbergasted. His jaw fell and he couldn't do more than just stare at his friend's shocked face.

„NO! NO, I DIDN'T!" Akira denied vehemently. _It can't be the reason, can it? _He was suddenly very scared.

Soujirou started to laugh. He laughed from the bottom of his heart.

„Why are you laughing? Stop! I said stop it!" Akira was getting more and more distressed. It was hard enough for him to call his friend now he was laughing to Akira's worries. Although Akira knew that Soujirou didn't mean anything bad with it, it still annoyed him slightly.

Soujirou finally calmed down and wiped tears from corners of his eyes.

„Gomen, my friend." Soujirou chuckled again. „It's just that you so vehemently persisted that this can't happen to you and now you're down with the same disease as Tsukasa and me."

„I don't see what's so funny about it." Akira answered sourly. _If you knew what I'm going through right now…_

„So? What is she like? I bet she's a real beauty. Come on, tell me." Soujirou continued as if he didn't hear his friend's comment.

_I wish it w__ere easy to describe… _Akira looked suddenly so sad and lost that Soujirou solemnized.

„Akira?" He asked cautiously.

„You know what, let's forget it. It's not important anyway. I don't know what's got into me." Akira tried to scratch everything as a joke. _I guess I'm still not ready to share this with anyone, even if it's Soujirou, my best friend._

Soujirou watched him for long time, genuinely worried. He sighed.

„Ok. But you know where to find me when you'll feel you want to talk about it, right?" Akira nodded, thankful for Soujirou's insight. He then decided to change the topic.

"And what about you, Soujirou? Is there anything new about Yuki?" Now it was Soujirou's time to look sad and lost.

"No. Not a single bit." Soujirou sighed. "But you know what? I met Yuki's friend Shiro today. The one I hit in the bar about a year ago, do you remember?" It took Akira several seconds before he remember the incident.

"Really? And how did it go? I guess he didn't punch you in return as you seem completely fine to me." Akira smiled widely.

"Fortunately, he doesn't bare any grudge against me. He even offered me help in searching for Yuki." Soujirou was still a bit surprised by Shiro's genuine offer.

"Did he?" Akira was also surprised. "Do you think he can succeed where we couldn't?"

Soujirou sighed again and closed his eyes briefly. "I don't know but I definitely don't want to hope only to be let down again."

Akira nodded and looked out the window again. The two friends remained silent for a few minutes both lost in their own thoughts.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's bothering you?" Soujirou asked after awhile.

Akira turned to him and smiled. "Not today. I think I'll try to solve it with my own powers." He paused for a second. "But I thank you, anyway. It helped me a lot that you came."

"No need for thanks. I was glad to see you again too." Soujirou smirked. "And I'm looking forward hearing about your "mysterious lady" soon." Akira laughed shortly.

"Yeah, sure." He was really glad to have such friend. They bid their goodbyes and Akira stood by the glass wall of his office. He looked up to the night sky. Soujirou's visit helped him to realize that taking an action and then regret it is much better than not do anything and spend the rest of your life wondering what might happen if you did it and regretting not done it.

_Next time I see her, I'll tell her what's bothering me... Well… Maybe not exactly what's bothering me 'cause I don't know what it is but… _Akira found himself blabbering in his own mind. He closed eyes and sighed. _Alright, I still don't know what I want to do but we'll definitely have a talk when I see her next time. _

Partly calmed down by this decision, Akira finally turned off the lights and left his office.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi :-)

so here's another chapter :-) I hope you'll like it :-)

to Di: It's a bit pity, I'd like to see their try but you're right about the previous philipino adaptations of famous shows, I've seen some of them.:-)

to matsujun lover: i hope this chapter will be satisfying :-)

Enjoy :-)

**

* * *

****Chapter 6**

Their 'next time' came earlier than they both expected. Two days later, on Monday morning, Sasha's boss came to her desk and handed her a big pack of papers. She looked at him with questioning eyes.

"What is it?"

"These documents must be delivered to Mimasaka-sama immediately." Sasha took the whole pack and watched her boss still not understanding what she should do with it.

"And you want me to…?" She left the ending opened.

"To deliver it to Mimasaka-sama immediately."

"Huh? Me? Isn't there a courier service or something similar for this?" Sasha was completely flabbergasted. A nervous stream went down her spine. She absolutely didn't expect the opportunity to see Akira to come so quickly. _What to do? I'm absolutely not prepared to see him now._

"W-Well, these are important documents that need to be delivered personally and there's no one else available at this moment except for you. These must also be delivered as soon as possible." Sasha looked around the room and saw all of her colleagues quickly turning to some non-existent work, pretending to be utterly busy. Sasha felt a hint of betrayal. She watched them searchingly and sensed that this must be their's idea. _But why would they want me to go there? Are they scared of him or what? Or do they think there's something between him and me because of the scene in the bar? I'll kill Natsuko… _Still she didn't have another option than to agree. Her boss was visibly relieved that she didn't protest and he told her more than willingly the address of the Mimasaka Group Headquarters. So Sasha, more than unwillingly, took her hand bag, the pile of documents and headed towards the underground station.

Butterflies of nervousness started to move around her stomach as she was approaching her destination. _Oh my god, I'll die from embarrassment before I reach his office. Just what am I going to tell him? _Her fingers were tapping nervously on her bag, her heart beating loudlywhen she finally reached the secretariat of Akira's personal office after passing the security on the entrance floor.

A young woman sitting behind the table lifted her eyes and smiled at her. Sasha somehow managed to reciprocate it but it seemed to be more of unpleasant grin than generous smile.

"H-hello, I'm here to deliver some documents for the president."

"Good afternoon, please, sit down there. I'll announce you to Mimasaka-sama." She pointed to two armchairs at the other side of the room. Sasha nodded and sat down at the brink of one of them, her nervosity quickly reaching its top.

"Miss Novak, you can go in….Miss Novak?" It took Sasha several seconds to stand up on her shaking legs and she slowly walked towards the door. At the moment it seemed more like a gate to hell. She crossed herself secretly. Then she laid her free hand on the doorknob, breathed in deeply and closed her eyes for second. She slowly opened the door.

"Excuse me…" Sasha entered the spacious room and saw Akira sitting behind a big table unusually on the left side of the room instead of in front but still turned to the door so he could easily see who is coming in. The right side of the room was equipped with small cream coloured-sofa with glass coffee table and two also creamy armchairs.

Sasha stood by the door that closed behind her with silent clap. Uncertain what to do while Akira was still looking down into a document in front of him, she remained at the same spot with her arms full of papers, her sight turned down or searching the room avoiding only Akira's table. _Where did your courage go?_ A voice spoke up in her head. _It's on vacation…indefinitely._ Her coward side answered.

Meanwhile Akira was trying to remain calm, purposely delaying the moment he lifts up his eyes to see her. The moment he heard from his secretary that Sasha is here, he was catapulted into an unexpected whirlpool of nervousness, expectation and also joy of seeing her. He let her wait for five minutes to regain his composure. _What is she doing here? I'm not prepared to face her yet._ He sighed and jumped from his seat to walk around his office to calm down and think out what he's going to tell her before actually letting her go in.

When he then heard her quiet voice, his hand with pen stopped for a split second before continuing writing. He finished a sentence, knowing that he doesn't even know what he just wrote. He secretly breathed deeply in and out and finally looked at Sasha. She was looking around the room so she didn't notice it immediately. That gave him an opportunity to scrutinize her appearance. She seemed to be calm but the speed in which she moved her eyes revealed a sense of unsettled feelings. Her cheeks were red as she was still in her coat and the room was warm.

"Ehm…" Akira cleared his throat and Sasha turned her sight to him immediately. In fact, she winced and the pile in her arms almost collapsed.

"H-hello. I was sent to bring you these documents. Where can I leave them?" She spilled out quickly while trying to show at least a small smile.

"Oh, ok, you can leave them on the coffee table, I'll look at them later." Akira replied and watched Sasha as she rushed to the sofa, knocking into it while several papers from the top fell to the ground. He tried to suppress a small chuckle when she went down on her knees to pick up the fallen papers only to hit the table with her head. He covered his mouth with hand and laughed secretly as he heard her murmuring something in foreign language. He didn't need to understand to know that she just cursed heavily. She finally stood up again.

"I'm sorry. I'm not usually this left-handed." She bowed lightly and walked quickly to the door. "Well then, goodbye."

"Sasha, wait." She froze with her hand on a doorknob when she heard Akira say her name, it was only second time he used it. Akira was also taken aback because the words just flew from his mouth.

"Yes?" She didn't turn.

"Could you sit down for a moment? I'd like to have a talk with you." He watched as she slowly turned and walked back to sofa where she sat down stiffly.

Sasha who was avoiding any look at Akira now finally lifted her eyes and watched him as he was coming near. _This doesn't look good. I hope he's not going to fire me._ She paused and wondered where this silly idea has come from. She should be more worried about her life to be taken away, not her job. She then mentally slapped herself and fixed her eyes on Akira. Deep inside her heart she knew that he wouldn't hurt her in physical way but now she wasn't sure if her heart won't be hurt by him. And although she decided to face her worries, now she was too scared to say anything.

Akira finally sat down in front of Sasha, still wondering what he's going to tell her. He felt her eyes on him and that only distracted him more. There was an awkward moment of silence between them when they both didn't know how to start.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" Sasha managed to say still tensed. She barely breathed waiting for Akira to start.

"Well…" Akira finally calmed down. _I asked her to stay so I should tell her what I want… But how?_

"Why don't you take off your coat, it's not healthy to be this dressed up in a warm room."

Sasha nodded and did as Akira suggested. There was another pregnant pause. Then Akira finally started to talk.

"The reason why I wanted to talk with you is that I'm quite disturbed by the way all of our meetings proceed." He paused gathering his thoughts. Sasha just silently waited for his next sentence.

"Did you arrive home safely on Thursday?" Sasha's eyebrows furrowed.

"What? You mean from the bar? Wasn't it you who brought me home?" The sense of his sentence was beyond her understanding.

Akira on the other hand would hit the wall with his head at that moment if he could. _Jesus, I'm such a dumb-ass. _

"Ehm… yes…" He said in a small voice.

"Well, yeah, I managed to pass the twenty meters to the entrance of the house safely." Sasha couldn't hide a small chuckle in her words.

Akira sighed. _I'd better ask something more reasonable than to just spit out the first thing that comes to my mind._

"Do you think we could be friends?" He suddenly blurted out surprising Sasha as well as himself. _Ok, so NEXT time I won't say the first thing on my mind._

"What?" She absolutely didn't expect this.

"You know, it's just strange – this boss-employee kind of relationship – given the way we met for the first time. So I thought that it might be more convenient for you as well as for me to be more of friends than just this peculiar half-working relationship." Akira didn't know if he explained himself clearly. "Do you understand me?"

"Ehm…" Sasha was trying to organize her own thoughts. _This might be the best solution. I guess it will solve my dilemma how to behave towards him and maybe, maybe, all of my anxiety over him will then soon disappear._ She bit her lower lip. Somehow her own words sounded more like an excuse than really convincing argument.

"Ok. You're right, I agree." She smiled at him. Akira secretly heaved in relief. He was partly worried that she will refuse. He reciprocated her smile.

"So now I can say whatever I want without being worried to be fired, right?" A mischievous twinkle appeared in Sasha's eyes.

Akira lifted right eyebrow and accepted her light tone. "Naughty, aren't we?"

Sasha grinned at him. "Nooo, I wouldn't dare to." But her face was saying she WOULD dare.

Akira laughed. _She is really incorrigible._ Still he was glad he asked her to stay and talk things out. Although it wasn't exactly what he wanted, it was a good beginning. _Let's see where this friendship will bring us. Perhaps all of those strange feelings in me will soon disappear._

Akira looked at the watch. "Alright, my dear new friend, I'm afraid I must return to my work now but what do you say if we go to lunch tomorrow, hm?"

"Hmm… Yeah, why not." Sasha agreed. "But you work quite far away from our office, I'm not sure my lunch break is long enough to reach here and eat."

Akira smirked. "Did you forget I'm the boss? Your lunch break is as long as I say it is."

Sasha sighed. "Sure I know you're the boss but I need to work there and having special privileges just because you're my friend would make no good in the company and within my colleagues. And I don't want that to happen." She tried to explain.

Akira nodded as he understood her reasons. "Okay, so instead of you coming here, I'll come to pick you up, is that ok?"

Sasha hesitated for a second. "Okay, call me when you arrive to the building and I'll go down."

Akira sighed as he meant it that he will pick her up IN her office but decided to accept her decision. _For now._

"So, I'll be going now, I must return to work as well." Sasha smiled at Akira as she put on her coat.

"Sure." Akira walked with her to the door and opened it for her.

"See you tomorrow. Bye." He smiled.

"Bye." And with the last smile Sasha left his office. Her steps were suddenly light as a feather and she sent a divine smile to the secretary that seemed to be in a deep shock to see her this happy. Usually people coming from that room were depressed.

When Sasha sat down in the train back to office, she was still smiling. Her chest was filled with such warmth that she wouldn't need the coat to keep her warm. She has never been this happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello :-)

Thanks for all of your reviews :-)

To Books are my adventure: thanks for both of your reviews :-) I contemplated for a long time about the ending of the chapter 6 but I decided to leave as it is without adding any worries or premonition that Sasha might feel inside. It was actually meant to make you smile :-) Sasha was simply happy and that made her smile even though she didn't fully understand why she's so happy just because she became Akira's friend. She will realize it later ;-)

To Matsujunlover: I'm really happy you liked it :-) Well, it's nice to have your own version of your favourite series however it's bad. I live at the other side of the world and there's no way that would ever make Czech version of any Asian movie or series. :-(

Well, hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well :-)

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Next day, as the time for lunch break was coming near, Sasha was impatiently watching her cell phone and the clock. But when her phone finally rang she jumped up in surprise. Suddenly nervous, she picked up the phone.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hi, it's me, Akira." A big smile spread across Sasha's face when she heard familiar deep voice.

"Hello. " Akira also smiled softly.

"I'm already on my way and I'll be in front of your office in about five minutes." He said.

"Ok, I'm going down. See you then."

"Yeah, bye."

"Bye." Sasha hung up and held the phone on her chest, smiling delightfully.

"Who was it?" Sasha turned quickly surprised by a voice. It was Natsuko again, sneaking behind her. _I'll really kill her if she continues doing this._

"No one, just a friend." Sasha really didn't want her colleague to know anything about her new friendship with Akira.

"Actually, I need to go now, my friend is already waiting for me and we're going for a lunch today." She quickly took her bag and left without giving Natsuko a chance to ask more.

She ran to the elevator and then outside the building. There she saw Akira already leaning against his car. She was still a bit uncertain how to greet him but she put a smile on her face, still trying to catch up her breath and suppress a sudden flinch of nervousness.

"Hi, did you wait long?" Akira straightened up and smiled as he watched Sasha coming near, her coat only half-buttoned, her hair flying in the wind and her eyes shining. _She's cute. _He thought. _Wait, cute?_ He was a bit taken aback by his own thought. Then he relaxed. _It's normal to think about my friend that she's cute, right?_ He persuaded himself.

"Hi. No, I've just arrived." Sasha stopped in front of him. She looked at him and noticed he seemed to be more handsome than yesterday. _How does he do that? Or is it because he's my friend now that he seems to be more attractive for me? Aah, scratch that! _

"So? Where are we going for lunch?" She asked trying to not think about those questions persistently popping up in her mind.

"What? Didn't you prepare anything for me to eat? Or chose a restaurant?" Akira made innocent eyes pretending to be utterly surprised. But he couldn't mislead Sasha.

"Oy, Akira-kun, it was YOU who invited ME for lunch." She winked at him saucily.

They both laughed and Akira lifted his hands as a sign of giving up.

"Alright, alright. Hop in." And he opened the front-passenger's door for Sasha. She looked at him curiously but sat down inside the car.

"Where are we going?" She asked when he joined her, sitting at the driver's seat. Akira started the engine and joined the stream of cars on the road.

"To a nearby restaurant. I've eaten there before and their cuisine is really delicious."

Sasha nodded and the rest of their five-minute's drive was filled with pleasant silence as both of them were simply enjoying the presence of the other person, without need for words, just secretly looking at each other when the other one wasn't looking.

When they entered the restaurant, Sasha's chin fell lightly. It was one of those high-class places that always made her feel insecure and out of place. _It's not like I've been to such places often but still… _She stopped for a moment in the entrance door and continued walking only when Akira turned and waved at her to follow him. She sighed. Well, w_hat would you expect, he IS rich and used to certain standard._ Sasha shrugged her shoulders as she came into terms with Akira's wealth. _Next time I'll take him to McDonald's._ She chuckled._ To widen his horizon as he's widening mine now._

They sat down and the waiter gave them the menu. One look at the prices was more than enough for Sasha.

"Ehm, Akira-kun? I have a little problem." Akira looked at her questioningly.

"With what?"

"Well, I don't have so much money with me to pay even for water in here." Sasha replied plainly.

"Really? Don't worry about that, today's lunch is on me." He shot a smile at her and looked back down into the menu. Sasha's eyes remained on his face for few more seconds. Then she shrugged again. _As you wish._ She started to read the names of dishes more closely. She chose a simple dish with shrimps and rice for her food and handed the menu back to the waiter who came back with their drinks. Soon their food was also brought and they started to talk about work while eating. The atmosphere was nice and pleasant as if they knew each other for ages. Then the conversation turned to private matters.

"So, Sasha, what made you decide to come and work in Japan?" Akira looked at her. He wanted to know more about her and he was also curious about her life before they met.

"Well, I'll tell you but you must promise me you won't laugh." She warned him. Akira nodded.

"When I was twelve I saw a Japanese anime and became obsessed with everything Japanese." She said it with a lightly ashamed expression that soured a bit when she saw Akira smiling.

"You promised not to laugh." She said pouting her lips discontented.

"Sorry, it's just that you saw one anime and decided to work in Japan while just being twelve, it sounds really strange." He tried to explain himself.

Sasha smiled at him to show him she actually didn't mind him laughing.

"Actually, that was just a beginning. I didn't think about working in Japan until I was at University and met a girl who was also interested in Japanese manga and anime. She then introduced me into much bigger world and after awhile I wanted to actually understand Japanese and not just read the subtitles. And before I knew it I was more obsessed with Japan than I would ever thought was possible." Sasha was grateful that Akira didn't laugh off her explanation and turned it into a joke.

"So then you decided to work at Japan?" He asked calmly.

"I guess it was then but it took me several years of studying Japanese and taking exams to prove my level of language skills to be able to obtain a job here."

"And here you are." He smiled at her.

"Yes." Before their conversation could continue Akira's phone rang. Seeing the caller's name he smiled.

"Moshi moshi, Emu?" _Emu? Isn't it specie of Camel bird? _Sasha thought unwittingly.

"What? But I have an appointment now." Akira's face clouded as he listened attentively.

"Demo, oniichan…" Akira turned as he heard a voice behind him. There he saw his twin sisters, Emu and Memu, both pouting lips. He hung up his phone and stood up. [author's note: I hope these are the names of Akira's sisters if not, please, correct me ]

"What are you two doing here?" Akira asked with his good mood destroyed.

"We went shopping for Christmas presents and wanted you to join us." Both girls stood by the table and looked at Sasha, scrutinizing her appearance in thorough detail. Sasha let them do that and just lifted her eyebrows in amazement. They seemed to be around sixteen year old and were very pretty. Both wearing the same dress but in different colour, fashionable hairstyles and dolled up like real-life princesses.

"Hey, oniichan, who's this? If this is your latest mistress then your taste went steeply downhill from last time." Sasha just frowned at this absolutely impolite remark. _Really like princesses. Completely spoiled._

"Watch your tongue, Memu, or I'll cut your allowance money to half." Akira warned his sister. "This is one of my colleagues and friend, Sasha, so behave."

Sasha gave both girls a light nod that the girls unwillingly returned. _Making me accused and amused at one moment is probably their family trademark. _She thought with smile.

"I apologized for my words earlier." Memu said unwillingly under the stern look of her brother.

"No problem. Nice to meet you, girls." Sasha smiled at them.

Akira watched it carefully as he tried to search for any signs of anger in Sasha's face. When he didn't find any he turned his attention back to his sisters.

"As you can see, I'm not free at this moment so you must handle your shopping just with the help of your bodyguards. Where are they anyway?" He looked around the room and found two men in black suits at the entrance.

"But that's just boring, they have no sense for style or fashion. We want to shop with you. It's much more fun." Both girls whined and looked at Akira with puppy's eyes. Sasha secretly smiled seeing as their brother had a hard time resisting them. She decided to help Akira to solve the situation.

"Why don't you go with them? Our lunch is over and I need to go to work anyway." She looked at Akira with a hint of smile, trying hard to suppress it from spreading across her whole face. This situation was more than amusing for her. Seeing feared yakuza boss helpless and melting in front of his sisters was worth seeing although she wanted to spend more time alone with him. _Still I got to know more about him. At least more about his family. __At least more about his family. And thanks God he doesn't know my family. _She thought secretly.

Akira on the other hand wasn't pleased at all with the course this lunch has taken. He wanted to spend more time with Sasha, slowly getting to know her. But all of his plans were destroyed by his own sisters. Then he realized one thing.

"How did you know I was here?"

"We asked your secretary." His first reaction was to call and fire her immediately but then he realized that even he can't resist his sisters' demands so he can't blame his secretary for succumbing to their will. He sighed and finally gave up.

"Alright then. I'll go with you." Both girls' faces were shining like sun, happy they persuaded their brother.

Akira turned his eyes back to Sasha. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Sasha nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure…. But a little present would be nice." She started to chuckle.

"What?" Akira didn't understand immediately.

"She said to buy her a present as an apology." Emu explained Sasha's words. Her eyes rolled up as she wondered why her brother is so slow-witted today.

"And what would you want?" He asked her seriously.

Sasha just waved it off. "Nothing, it was just a joke. You don't need to buy me anything." She checked the time on her watch.

"But now I really have to go. It was really nice to meet you, girls. I hope you'll find everything you're looking for." Sasha stood up and smiled at Emu and Memu who were a bit taken aback by the fact that Sasha was about ten centimetres taller than them. Their reaction didn't escape Sasha's eyes and entertained her.

"Thank you." They replied and moved from her way.

"I'll walk you to the exit." Akira stood up together with Sasha just waiting for her. He still wanted to talk to her privately before she leaves. Sasha nodded and they both went to collect her coat.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't expect them to show up." Akira said apologetically.

"It's ok. It's not your fault anyway." She smiled at him. They stood there for a long moment, both unwilling to say goodbye.

"I really should go." Sasha said but didn't move at all.

"Yeah." Akira answered and just continued looking at her.

Another ten seconds went by when Sasha noticed with the corner of her eye that Emu was waving at them. _Or was it Memu?_ It finally made her come back to reality.

"So I'm going. Bye." She turned to the door.

"Yeah, bye… I'll call you." Akira said trying to suppress the eagerness in his voice.

"Sure." She looked over her shoulder, smiled and nodded. He watched her until she disappeared around the corner. He sighed. This lunch didn't go the way he imagined it. _Why is it so hard to spend some time with her? I just want to get to know her more… as a friend._ A smile appeared on his lips when he remembered her reasons for coming to Japan. _So I met otaku for the first time in my life._ He chuckled all the way back to the table where his sisters were impatiently waiting.

"Oniichan, who was this Sasha?" The girls asked in unison. Akira lifted his eyebrows.

"I told you she's one of my employees and a friend." They looked at him sceptically.

"But you don't look at her as a friend." That got Akira of his feet.

"W-What? And how do I look at her?" He asked uncertainly.

"Like you were in love with her." A dry Emu's remark almost stopped Akira's heart. _No way!_

"Oy, girls, you have a wild imagination. Come on, let's go shopping." He hurriedly pushed them from their seats, quickly cleared the bill and they left the restaurant.

**oOo**

Fortunately for Akira, both girls seemed to forget Sasha the moment the stepped inside the shop with branded bags and shoes. Still Emu's words were idling in Akira's mind and it took him a great deal of concentration to focus on his sisters.

With the time he was more and more resembling a Christmas tree as the girls made him to carry all bags with the newly bought things.

He wandered off when the girls were choosing underwear and forcibly made him to leave them alone. His feet took him to a jewellery shop and he mindlessly studied the content of glass boxes. He remembered Sasha's joke about present as he stopped by the show-case with necklaces. _No, it would be absolutely inappropriate to buy her something like this. It would be more like we are pair than just friends. _Akira caught himself sailing in very dangerous waters of his mind. He left the shop as quickly as possible forcing his mind to forget such silly ideas. But it lasted only few seconds and then he started to wonder what kind of Christmas present Sasha would want. _Next time I must ask her what she likes._

**oOo**

Sasha was also thinking about present. A present for Akira. She tried to come up with something whole afternoon, even called her friend home, but still wasn't successful.

On evening that day, sitting on a sofa in the living room of her flat with a third glass of wine she once again, for thousandth times, tried to think up at least one thing she could give to Akira as a Christmas present. _But what would you give to a person who can afford everything? _

She wanted to give him something he can't buy but the only option how to do it is to hand-made it. Sasha went through a very short list of possible gifts:

– to knit a sweater? _I can't knit and no one wears a sweater with holes 10 centimetres (3,94 inches) wide;_

– to draw a picture? _I can't draw a straight line without ruler;_

– to write a poem? _In Japanese?_

Sasha scratched her head. _Perhaps I should start with something I actually CAN do. What about singing?_ This idea sounded good so she started to evolve it. _Ok, I could make a cd with several songs sang by me… But what will I sing? _The first song that came up on her mind was Marilyn Monroe's 'I wanna be loved by you' from Some like it hot. _I DEFINITELY can't sing that! That's even worse than the song I sang in the bar._

Sasha hung down her head in despair and closed her eyes. _The only thing that's left is to write a coupon 'I'll do whatever you want me to'._ She sighed heavily. _I need to ask him what he likes or I'll never come up with reasonable gift. _With this decision she stopped her futile attempts to produce any useful idea, drank up the wine and falteringly went to bed.

* * *

Any suggestions for Akira's present? :-)


	8. Chapter 8

Konbanwa minna-san :-)

I took me three days and four nights to think up and make Sasha's gift for Akira but I can say „Dekimashita" :D

And I finally know the result for my CAE exams: **A** Honestly I was quite shocked it was so good… :D

To moonluver26: I'll try :-)

To Books are mi adventures: I just wanted to explain my feelings while writing the end of the sixth chapter. It seems that whenever I'm not sure or feel that I should write it differently or I put a lot of emotions into the writing, my readers can sense it all. That makes me quite happy actually :-)

And yes, I hope he'll like his gift, it will be mostly hand-made by Sasha. :-)

To Mac: thanks for your review :-) I'm really glad you like both of my stories and I hope I'll meet your expectations with this story in the future too :-)

To Di: It was Sailormoon, an anime for teenage girls :-) I'm glad you liked the twins, I intend to use them more :-)

To MatsujunLover: I hope you feel better now :-) and I'm glad that the chapter lifted up your mood :-)

Well, actually my friend said something similar – "Why doesn't she give him herself?" :D

Enjoy :-)

**Chapter 8**

Akira decided to uncover what Sasha would like as a Christmas gift right the next day. Actually he couldn't wait to ask her. His mind was working on more than 100 percent while he tried to think up her possible wishes.

He was sitting in his office, looking out of the glass wall opposite to his table, absolutely ignoring the papers before him waiting for him to read them. _Maybe I could buy tickets to a musical… But to which one?_ He tilted his head to one side. His mind was completely blank. Then he shook his head and straightened up in his chair trying to collect himself. _I'm becoming really strange lately. Why do I bother so much over such trivial thing?_ Akira sighed and forced himself to concentrate on his work.

He managed to go through a good amount of reports and contracts when his phone rang. His eyes widened when he saw Sasha's number.

"Moshi moshi, Sasha?" Akira couldn't suppress amazement.

"Hi, Akira-kun, how are you today?" Sasha was also surprised that she really pushed the button and made the call. She contemplated about it since she woke up with headache in the morning. _Great, I'm alright when I drink like old sailor but just three glasses get me this pain. _But now that she really did it, she had no idea what she's going to say to him.

"Hello, I'm fine, just busy with work. What about you?" Akira didn't want to start questioning her right away as he wanted to see her personally before he does so.

"Oh, same here…" A silence resonated between them.

"Um, Akira-kun…" Sasha started shyly.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering… Whether you would like another lunch…? Since the one we had yesterday was interrupted…" She was waiting for his answer. _Perhaps I shouldn't say the last sentence. Now he'll think I did mind his sisters' appearance._

"Sure, I'd like to." Akira smiled. _So she was discomforted because Emu and Memu. _Strangely it pleased him.

"It's not that I minded your sisters, it's just that I wanted to talk to you more and get to know more about you…" _Oh, Sasha, just shut up or you'll say something even more embarrassing. _She closed her eyes and held her head. "As a friend, of course." She added.

"Um…" Akira didn't know what to say. "Yeah, that's what I wanted too." He too stopped himself before adding more. "As a friend."

"So, what about today? Or is it too soon?" Sasha tried hard not to sound like she can't wait to see him.

Akira quickly looked into his notebook. "No, it's fine, I'm free around lunch."

"Great. I know one good restaurant where I want to take you to so could you come here like yesterday?"

"Sure. I'll be waiting outside again, ok?" Akira offered.

"That would be perfect. I'm looking forward to seeing you." She smiled widely to the phone.

"Me too. Bye."

"Yeah, bye."

They both hung up smiling and full of anticipation for upcoming lunch.

**oOo**

Precisely at twelve o'clock, Sasha ran out of her office building and saw Akira against his car exactly the same way he did one day before.

"Hi, did you wait long?" She asked him. Just the sight of him made her smile.

"No, I just got here." Akira smiled as well. "So, where are we going today?" He asked.

"That's a surprise."

"Is it?" Akira smirked. "But how do you suppose me to drive there when I don't know where we are going?"

Sasha laughed. "But we aren't going by car. We will walk there." She winked at Akira who was a bit taken aback by her revelation.

"Walk?"

"Yes. You know, the activity you usually use your legs for." She couldn't resist teasing him a bit.

"I know what's walking, thank you very much." Akira made an injured face. Sasha just laughed seeing his expression.

"Alright I'm sorry." She apologized but didn't look one bit that way. "Let's go." She turned and started to walk.

"Wait!" Akira called out and made few quick steps to catch up with her. "How far is it?"

Sasha looked at him from side. "It's just five-minute walk from here, don't worry. I won't make you go too far." She smiled at him. Akira just frowned.

"So how was your shopping yesterday?" She asked after a moment. "Did it go well?"

Akira gave out a deep sigh. "Well, you can say it like that." He paused for a second. "They made me into their porter again." He seemed to be resigned to his fate and that made Sasha giggle.

"I guess that's what older brothers are for. To take care of younger siblings." She commented.

Akira looked at her curiously. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, a brother."

"I see. So he took care of you when you were younger." Akira nodded.

"Quite the opposite. He's eight years younger than me." Sasha corrected his assumption.

"Really? Then your situation is similar to mine." Akira noted surprised.

"In a way, yes. But I never had to carry his presents." She said jokingly and they both laughed.

They arrived to the restaurant that was situated in a narrow street with space just enough to walk in one direction. Akira looked around carefully. He never knew such place existed in this business district of Tokyo.

They entered with Sasha going first and were greeted with a strong smell of freshly cooked broth. The place was fairly crowded and Akira noticed that everyone had a bowl of ramen in front of them.

"Is this a ramen restaurant?" He asked Sasha cautiously, still looking around flustered by the number of people squeezing inside.

"Bingo." She smiled at him. "This shop has the best ramen I've ever eaten." She turned away from him again. "Let's find a place to sit down." She moved forward while Akira remained standing in the same spot, hesitating whether he should really go in. _I hope I won't get food-poisoned in here. Well, if it doesn't kill me, it will make me stronger._ He thought and with uneasy expression he followed Sasha.

Fortunately for them, two busy business men just finished their lunch and freed a table for two. Sasha rushed there to secure the place for them.

They just sat down and a young girl brought two menus for them. Sasha watched as the girl smiled significantly at Akira while her face towards her could be classified as 'sour' at best. She didn't mind that as Akira didn't seem to notice it and she ordered her favourite tempura udon. [Author's note: .]

"Did you choose what you want to eat?" Sasha asked Akira who looked quite lost reading the menu.

"I don't know. What would you suggest?" He lifted his eyes to her.

"Well, I don't know what you like but you can have the same meal as me or you can choose one with meat… They're all delicious." Sasha looked into the menu again trying to find a food that Akira would like.

"Alright then, I'll have soba noodles with chicken." Akira decided to go with the meal at the top of the page. _It will be as good as any other food from the menu._ He thought.

It didn't take more than three minutes and their bowls full of fragrant food was placed in front of them.

"Itadakimasu." Sasha smiled at Akira before she started to eat.

"Itadakimasu." Akira repeated still uncertain whether he should really try to eat this meal. He took a first bite. _It's delicious._ He started to eat faster. Sasha watched him over the edge of her glasses and smiled to herself.

"Is it good?" She asked.

"Uhm…" Akira mumbled with his mouth full. Sasha smiled brightly and continued eating.

"Honestly, I didn't expect it to be so tasty." He said when he finished his bowl, ahead of Sasha.

"I noticed that." Sasha made a short remark which made Akira blush a bit.

"But you know, I'm actually shocked by it as well. And look at the prices."

"Don't worry, today's lunch is on me." Sasha replied to Akira's comment smiling.

"I didn't mean it that way. It's so cheap." Akira's voice was full of amazement.

"And that's the reason this lunch is on me." Sasha joked and Akira laughed.

Sasha paid the bill and they slowly walked back to the office. Akira started to worry that he might won't have a chance to ask Sasha about the possible Christmas present and decided to ask her indirectly.

"Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"Well, no. Initially I wanted to go home but as I started to work just two months ago I can't possibly ask for two weeks of holidays. So I'll probably be alone at home." She answered. Even the perspective seemed too depressing to her.

"I see." He paused for a second. "Won't your family send you at least Christmas presents? I assume they can't come personally."

Sasha smiled at him. "You're right. They might send something."

"And what would you like to get?" He asked and waited for her answer.

"Well, anything would be fine." It wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"And if you could choose something that you'd really really want, what would that be?"

Sasha gave him a long side look. A very dangerous answer went through her mind with the speed of light but she didn't catch it. _What was it just now?_ She wondered but concentrated on Akira again. [Author's note: Wanna try to guess? ;-) ]

"Do you really want to know?" She asked.

"Sure."

"Alright." She breathed in. "A sword." That got him totally of his feet.

"What?"

"A sword. A real Japanese katana." She paused. "Although I would be more than satisfied just holding it in my own hands for a moment. It's too expensive for me to buy." She smiled at totally flabbergasted Akira. "You didn't expect such answer, did you?"

"No, I didn't. Usually women want jewellery or clothes." He managed to say.

"Well, what can I say? That I'm unusual?" Sasha smiled. They reached Akira's car in front of the entrance of office building.

_That's what you're definitely are._ Akira thought. _Almost like Pandora's Box._ But even with this cautious mentioning of his mind he still wanted to know more about this unusual woman that came so unexpectedly into his life.

Their conversation reminded Sasha of her own intension to ask Akira what he would like to receive as a Christmas gift.

"And what would you like to get as a present?" She asked.

Akira gave her a long gaze before he answered. "What about a song?" Sasha's eyebrows wrinkled.

"What?"

"Why don't you sing for me?" He winked at her, his whole face shining with humour.

"Oh, please." She waved off his demand. "What kind of gift would THAT be?"

"Ichigo ichie." Akira answered.

"Hm? Ichigo ichie? What's that?" Sasha asked confused.

"It literally means one time in your life. That you should enjoy every moment of your life because it won't come back again. And it's the same with your singing. It would be one-off event. You would never sing the song same way."

"Oh, I see. It's the same as Carpe diem or you never enter the same river twice." Sasha's brain started to work as his explanation gave her an idea what she could give him. _I hope he'll like it._ She smiled contently.

Akira smiled as well and checked the time on his watch. "Ups, I was supposed to be somewhere else right now. I need to go." Sasha nodded and he quickly got in his car.

She waved at him as he was leaving and then she turned and went back to the office. _It turned out well. Although he didn't tell me what he wants I still got an idea._ In the elevator her smile disappeared. She came to realize one disturbing thing._ Why am I so nervous and unsettled when I talk to him over phone or don't see him but when I'm with him, I'm completely calm? Like if everything falls into its place… _She gave out a deep sigh. She still wasn't prepared to search for the answer but knew that the time for it is coming near very quickly. And that made her anxious even more.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi, everyone, I'm really really sorry for this super late update.

I was renovating my room, painting the walls, new floor, new furniture (delivered in boxes of course :-)) and also moving all of my stuff out of the room and then back in... well, anyway I'm finally done and I was able to finish this chapter :-)

To MatsujunLover:

Thanks :-) Now I'm preparing for a Japanese exam… the lowest one though… :-)

I'd also like to hold katana at least once in my life… Let us both wish sincerely and it might come true :D

I'm glad to hear you're healthy again :-)

To Di:

It's just like Sasha, unusual. :-) The phrase 'Ichigo ichie' just hit my eyes while I was searching for something else and I just had to use it… now you just have to wait to see how I did it :-)

And I'm happy that my story helps to relieve a bit of stress in your everyday life. :-)

To Mac:

I'm happy you like the idea :-) Christmas is coming soon, maybe in the next chapter :-)

I hope you'll like this chapter as well as Soujirou and Yuki make their appearances ... :-)

* * *

**Chapter 9**

The tempo of the work speeded up in the following two weeks both for Akira and Sasha. But even the increasing demands of Sasha's boss and Akira's countless meetings didn't prevent them from meeting at least twice a week for lunch or calling late in the evening, sharing their daily troubles. Usually it was Sasha talking and Akira listening, laughing to Sasha's way of describing her boss and colleagues so she usually told him not to laugh but was secretly happy to make him smile. He didn't talk much about his own work and Sasha didn't want to ask him respecting his privacy and also because she knew that closing bargain requires also a certain level of secrecy. Still she got to know more about him and his family despite their relatively short meetings. She knew from their first lunch that he loves his sisters and can't say 'no' to them and it took her just five minutes from their third lunch to find out he also adores his mum. He had a proud and protective look in his eyes while talking about her. Sasha smiled as she remembered Akira's surprising visit last week. She was working late as usual recently, preparing documents for next day's meeting, her indispensable mp3 player in her ears and she was humming the melody…

_Akira stood in the doorway and smiled. 'She's listening to the music again. She's really hooked on it.' He thought._ _The situation also reminded him of one similar encounter before and his smile widened. _

"_Knock, knock. Is anyone in here?" He said aloud to make sure she hears him. _

_Sasha lifted up her head and smiled pleasantly when she saw Akira._

"_Hi, what are you doing here?" She asked smiling._

"_I came to check up on you, of course. I must know if my employees are working hard." He said jokingly and came to her table._

"_And will I get a bonus for hard work?" Sasha grinned at him and blinked several times. Akira just laughed. _

"_Who knows… It depends on your attitude towards your boss…" He said and looked at her meaningfully. _

"_Oh, really?... Hm, wakatta (understood)." She stood up and made a servant pose, with her hand neatly placed in front of her and in a thirty degree bow. "Would young master want a coffee, tea, water… me?" She asked with excessive willingness, winking at him endlessly._

"_Oh, please, don't do that, it gives me goosebumps." He shuddered. Sasha straightened up immediately and smiled contently. _

"_Good." She remarked and the smirk on her face was replaced by a genuine smile. "But now for real, would you like to drink something?"_

"_Well then, what about coffee?" He asked._

"_Sure." She replied and went to a small kitchen to prepare the drink…_

Back in the present, Sasha smiled again and looked up to the highest floor of office building in front of her. _Now it's my turn to surprise him._ She entered the building and after a five-minute discussion with the security man, she managed to persuade him that she didn't come to kill their boss on late Wednesday evening. It also helped her that since she was forced once to deliver documents to Akira, somehow, everyone in her office decided to make her come here with every single document they needed to deliver. So now even the staff of the security agency knew her quite well and that's why she was allowed to continue with her surprising visit without Akira's knowledge. She looked at her watch. It was almost eight o'clock. Sasha nervously tapped her foot on the elevator's floor while watching the number of floor growing. She was looking forward to seeing Akira because they didn't see each other or talk for more than three days ago. The door opened with silent ting and she got off. She walked to the door with tag saying 'managing director secretariat'. She crossed the empty room and when she wanted to knock the door, she heard voices from inside. _Does he still have some business meeting? But the secretary told me he's free after 7 o'clock._ She wondered, hesitating whether she should enter or wait. She stood there for a few minutes and when she heard laughter she finally decided to try it and knocked the door.

"Come in." She heard Akira's voice from inside. She opened the door slowly.

"Excuse me…"

Akira looked to the door and when he saw Sasha, his face lightened up with smile.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" Sasha smiled as well and saw a young couple sitting on the sofa opposite to Akira. She greeted them with polite smile and a small bow. Then she turned her attention back to Akira.

"I just wanted to return your visit from last week but as I see I didn't come at the right time." She felt a bit embarrassed. _I should have called beforehand._

"No, no. It's ok, these are just my good friends." Akira waved at Sasha who was already leaving and stopped her. He stood up and waited for Sasha. She hesitatingly walked to him. His guests stood up as well.

"This is my best friend Soujirou and his, now finally a fiancée, Yuki." Soujirou laughed at Akira's introduction while Yuki blushed slightly. Sasha bowed to them and when her sight landed on Yuki, her eyebrows wrinkled.

"Yuki?" She said with surprise when she recognized her tour guide from Sapporo.

It took Yuki a bit longer to recognize her. "Sasha?" She said and they both laughed leaving the boys completely confused.

"What are YOU doing here? When I called you last Monday you were still in Sapporo." Sasha said still in awe.

"I was but Soujirou found me on Thursday last week." Yuki looked at her fiancé lovingly, her cheeks shining with pink colour.

"Oh, so this is the one you told me about!" Soujirou looked curiously at Yuki who turned her sight away from him, embarrassed even more thanks to this revelation.

"So you two know each other?" Akira asked just to confirm what he already understood.

"Yeah, we met at Sapporo where I went on holiday before I started to work. Yuki was my tour guide." Sasha explained. She was still a bit uncertain how to behave in front of Soujirou but seeing the friendly atmosphere she decided just to be herself.

They all sat down on the sofa again with Sasha sitting next to Akira opposite to Soujirou and Yuki. Both Akira and Soujirou were still curious about their meeting and eager to know more but neither Yuki nor Sasha explained their time in Sapporo further. _I must ask Yuki about this girl when we're alone again._

"But still, it's such a coincidence to meet you here. How did you meet with Akira?" Yuki asked. She got to know Sasha quite well during the two weeks they spent together and they became very good friends. But she couldn't understand how these two could have met.

Akira and Sasha looked at each other and smiled. It lasted a split second but Soujirou didn't miss it.

"I spilled my wine on him." Yuki's and Soujirou's eyes widened.

"What? And you're still alive?" Soujirou asked wondering. Sasha laughed while Akira frowned.

"That's what I asked myself too when I found out who he really is." Sasha answered still laughing.

"Hey, you two! What am I, a monster?" Akira looked hurt. All three looked at him and shook their head vigorously.

"Noooo, of course, you're not." Soujirou pretended to be seriously trying to persuade his friend but the amusement was still clearly audible in his voice. Yuki slapped his arm lightly.

"Soujirou..." She looked at him disapprovingly. Soujirou smiled at his fiancée and patted her hand.

"Alright, alright, I'll be good."

Sasha smiled when she watched the exchange between Yuki and Soujirou. In Sapporo, Yuki told her almost everything about her and Soujirou and now she was glad to see her friend so happy.

"So, you didn't know who he is when you two first met?" Soujirou continued asking. Yuki gave him another warning look but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Darling, I'm just curious."

Sasha laughed at his answer and expression on his face.

"No, I didn't know him at first so you can imagine my shock when I found out that he's not just an ex-head of mafia but also my boss!" Sasha made an exaggeratedly shocked face and put hands on her cheeks.

"I didn't know if I should tremble for my life or job… It was a BIG dilemma." She nodded her head several times with a serious expression. Soujirou and Yuki just laughed at her exaggerating way of telling the story.

Akira just rolled up his eyes. _She should be an actress instead of engineer._ He thought but he was also enjoying the way she disclosed their meetings to his, and now also hers, friends. He leaned against the sofa and listened to Sasha as she described how he made her sing noticing that she skipped the part of the story that happened in the car on their way back to her home that night. It made him wonder whether she really doesn't remember anything or she's hiding the fact that she knows very well what they talked about. He never asked her about it as it was a sensitive spot for him and Sasha also didn't give him a tiny bit of what she remembers from that evening aside from the fact that he brought her home.

"So now, whenever it's necessary to send Akira some documents they always come to me." Sasha finished her long speech and made Akira to return to present time. Soujirou and Yuki were wiping tears of laughter from their eyes.

"Akira, is this true?" Soujirou asked. He still didn't quite believe Sasha's explanation although it could be possible because he knew his friend very well. _On the other hand, she's not the type Akira usually befriends._ He thought and added to himself that nether he or Akira looked for friendship from women. But this kind of relationship was already past for him since he found out he loves Yuki more than his own life.

"Well, yeah, almost every word." Akira smiled lightly and Sasha looked at him doubtfully.

"Almost?" She lifted her left eyebrow and waited for his answer.

"Yes, because you coloured up some parts." Sasha just stuck out her tongue at him which made him chuckle and absolutely surprised their friends. _That girl is either totally crazy or overly brave._ Soujirou thought but then he suddenly smirked as he realized the real core of their relationship. _So, that's how it is… This is going to be reeeaaally interesting._

"By the way, Soujirou, what was the big thing you two wanted to tell me?" Akira asked. Yuki blushed and Soujirou's chest inflated with pride.

"We're getting married. On New Year's Eve." Akira's eyes widened as well as Sasha's.

"Congratulations." They both managed to say equally surprised.

"So I wanted to ask you to be my best man." Soujirou continued.

Akira smiled pleasantly. "With pleasure. I can't miss the moment that famous Casanova of F4 will tie the not."

"Ex-Casanova." Yuki corrected him although she was red all over her face. They all laughed and Akira then looked at his watch.

"Oh, it's quite late and I'm getting hungry. What about dinner for the four of us?" He looked at his friends and Sasha. She looked a bit uneasy so he left his sight on her a little longer.

"Is it a problem?" He asked.

"Ehm, no. I just thought that you might want to spend more time just with your friends." _And I need to work on my Christmas gift for you._

"Oh, please, Sasha, come with us. I seriously don't know if I'll be able to watch these two turtledoves cooing over a plate of ordinary food." Akira rolled his eyes up. "And I would certainly feel like being on a shelf."

"Ok, if you insist." Sasha smiled. They all stood up and left the office while discussing the best place for their evening meal. In the end it was Sasha and Yuki who won and they all ended up in a nearby yakitori restaurant. It was pretty small space but they managed to sit down around a small table in a corner. Both men sat uncomfortably in their chairs but given their experience having common girls as a friend and fiancée, they remained silent. They just exchanged a look saying 'let's try it'.

Seeing their sour faces both girls secretly smiled. They knew very well that the moment these two will taste the food they will love it.

And that was exactly what happened. Sasha couldn't suppress her giggling seeing both Akira and Soujirou stuffing the pieces of chicken and all sorts of vegetables into their mouths like they haven't eaten for at least a week. She looked at Yuki who was equally amused by the sight. Soujirou lifted his head and seeing his fiancée covering her laughing mouth, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" He asked. Yuki just shook her head.

"You seem to be pretty hungry." She commented and made Sasha cover her mouth as well otherwise she would just burst into laughing. The sound of it made Akira to lift up his head.

"What are you laughing at?" He asked her.

"Nothing. It's just that you ate all of our food." That made both men looked down to the empty plates in the middle of table. They looked back at the girls with an embarrassed smile on their faces.

"Ehm, you didn't eat?" Soujirou asked shyly.

Both Yuki and Sasha shook their heads.

"We wanted to but we were scared you might eat our hands as well if we tried to take the food from you."

It was for the first time Yuki and Sasha saw them blush. Akira then straightened up and wiped his mouth.

"Uhm, then let's go to the best restaurant in the town. The food is on me." He offered.

"No need. We already ordered another portion just for the two of us." Sasha replied with an amused smirk on her face. She just couldn't get enough of this. Seeing Akira blushing was better than winning a lottery. She was enjoying the view and the atmosphere of this evening. _How nice it would be to spend more evenings like this. _She sighed wistfully.

"So, you were just teasing us?" Soujirou asked Yuki, a sign 'just you wait' written all over his face. Yuki just wrinkled her nose and smiled at him. She knew that it would take her just one or two kisses to pacify her boyfriend. He deserved this for his hasty decision about their wedding and for the fact he didn't discuss it with her at first.

"Alright, alright. We deserved it." Akira looked at the girls apologetically. At that moment the next portion of food was brought to them and Yuki and Sasha could finally eat their dinner. Of course they ordered more so that the boys could also have.

After they finished their meal, talking and laughing, they slowly walked back to Akira's office as both men had their cars parked underneath the building.

They bid their farewells with the promise to meet up soon again. Yuki and Sasha also made an appointment to go shopping on Friday.

On their way home, Soujirou was still thinking about the evening.

"Yuki?"

"Hm?" She turned her head and looked at him as he drove the car through the nearly empty streets.

"How well do you know Sasha?" He asked with a serious tone in his voice.

"Uhm, well, when I met her in Sapporo we became friends very quickly. She's very open-minded, cheerful and it's fun to be with her. Why do you ask?" Yuki was looking at her fiancé curiously.

"Because I think that Akira's in love with her." Yuki's chin fell slightly.

"What?"

Soujirou turned his head to look at her and smiled.

"Haven't you noticed it? It's quite obvious." Yuki just shook her head and sat in awe at her seat.

"That's why I want to know what type of person she is. I don't want my friend to be hurt."

"But Akira? And in love?" Yuki just couldn't comprehend this sudden and completely fantasy idea.

"And why not? Look at me, I also fell in love with you, didn't I?" Soujirou just smirked when Yuki's face blushed and beamed with clearly visible delight.

Yuki thought about Soujirou's statement for a minute. _Thinking back, he might be right._ She went through all the events of the evening.

"But, if what you said is true than even Sasha must be in love with Akira." She spoke up her thoughts carefully.

"Yeah, and that's a big plus on her side." _But I'll still want to know more about this girl. I'll ask Akira for more information about her, discreetly._

Silence spread in the car as both of them were thinking about the pair of people the left behind.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello, my dear readers :-)

Chapter 10 is finally finished :-)

To Mac:

Of course, I don't want to kill you :D I seriously wanted to reach the Christmas in this chapter but it would take me at least one more week to write it so I decided to present you with the 10th chapter earlier. But don't worry, the next chapter WILL BE only about Christmas.

One little secret: While thinking about your review I got an idea how I'm going to close up the Christmas day so THANK YOU :-) You inspired me. :D

I will try to write something about Tsukasa and Tsukushi but they will surely attend Soujirou's and Yuki's wedding which I intend to write about. :-)

To Di:

Sorry, I didn't update earlier. :-) I know very well the feeling of waiting for next chapter :-)

Well, there's going to be more Yuki and Soujirou now that they are back in Tokyo :D

Thanks for your praise :-) I still need to adjust the ending of 'Catch me if you can' though. Because I wrote it before this story, it's not exactly accurate. :-)

To MatsuJunLover:

Where are you? :-( I miss your reviews…

* * *

**Chapter 10**

. - wedding dress - front

.- wedding dress - back

. - traditional wedding outfit

. - traditional wedding dress

.

.

Sasha let fall all the bags she was carrying in the hallway of her flat. It was a long and exhausting Friday. But this time it wasn't just because of the work but also due to her shopping spree with Yuki and her friend Tsukushi in the afternoon.

Yuki called her in the morning and they agreed to meet at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Ginza at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Sasha arrived a bit later as she had to finish some urgent report and Yuki was already waiting for her…

"_I'm sorry, I'm late." She apologized to Yuki who was standing patiently in front of the entrance of the Department Store._

"_It's ok, it's just five minutes, no problem." Yuki smiled at Sasha. "I called my friend Tsukushi yesterday so we must wait for her as well." _

_Sasha smiled, surprised. "Oh, really? Then I'm glad I'm not the only one who is late." She was also curious about this friend of Yuki as she mentioned her in Sapporo. 'I hope she's as good as Yuki told me.'_

_Yuki was itching to ask Sasha about Akira but before she could voice up her question she saw a small figure approaching in a great speed._

"_Hi, Yuki, am I too late?" Tsukushi said while trying to catch her breath._

"_No, it's ok, I kind of expected you to be late." Yuki replied calmly._

_Tsukushi frowned. "I wouldn't be if I didn't have to persuade my stupid husband that I want to ride the underground for once. I'm getting tired from all the riding in limousines." Sasha and Yuki laughed. 'Tsukushi is the only one who would be tired of something like this.' Yuki thought._

_Tsukushi finally calmed down her breath and beating heart and looked curiously at Sasha. _

"_Tsukushi, this is my friend from Sapporo, Sasha. Sasha, this is my best friend Tsukushi." Both girls smiled and nodded towards each other._

"_Nice to meet you, Tsukushi." _

"_Nice to meet you, Sasha."_

_Yuki laughed and led both girls inside the store._

"_So, what are we going to look for, Yuki?" Tsukushi asked._

"_Well, because my fiancé is equally stupid as your husband, I need to buy myself a wedding dress and everything needed to it because HE decided that we are getting married in just three weeks." Yuki sighed._

_Tsukushi smirked. "Don't complain, Yuki. I didn't even have three hours."_

_Sasha just listened in awe. Although she didn't know both men she clearly understood three weeks is definitely not enough time to prepare a wedding. 'But less than three hours?' She thought._

"_Ah, you're right, sorry." Yuki smiled apologetically at Tsukushi and seeing Sasha's confused look, she explained the events that led to Tsukushi's wedding. In fact, they spent next three hours telling her about Tsukasa and F4 while Yuuki tried on an endless line of wedding dresses. They weren't going around just Mitsukoshi's department but also other big Stores with exclusive boutiques full of wedding dresses, veils, gloves, tiaras and so on. Sasha's head soon started spinning from all the information and zeros she saw on each dress or accessory. All girls were enjoying this crazy hunt for everything connected with wedding and to relieve the stress from endless trying on and off all the stuff, they also bought a great number of Christmas gifts. _

_For one of them, Sasha needed to go to a shop which specialized on making Japanese hanging scrolls. She persuaded the girls to visit it and while Yuki and Tsukushi were looking around the displayed fabrics, Sasha asked the shop-assistant for an advice. Hearing her request, the lady brought the owner of the shop, a man who seemed to be over seventy, and Sasha explained her vision to him. He seemed to be really surprised that a foreigner is asking for something like that but he gladly agreed and they settled a meeting on the next day even though it was Saturday._

_When they left, Yuki and Tsukushi asked her why she needed to go there and what kind of gift and for whom is she preparing but Sasha just smiled and said it's top secret. _

_Soon after that they ended their shopping in a coffee shop relaxing their tired legs and enjoying espresso with little evening snacks._

"_I'm so glad that I'm sitting, I don't feel my legs anymore." Tsukushi sighed. Yuki and Sasha just laughed._

"_Don't worry, Tsukushi, we are all on the same boat." Tsukushi smiled at Sasha. She found her very friendly and nice but she was still a bit cautious. 'It seems like Doumyouji's precaution rubbed on me more than I've thought,' went though her mind. _

"_But thanks God we found everything we wanted and that they will adjust the dress in time. I was getting really depressed after the first two hours." Yuki added her own complain. They all laughed again and continue eating and drinking._

_They chatted for some more time when Tsukushi's phone rang. It was Tsukasa. Tsukushi just rolled her eyes and picked up._

"_Yes?" She listened to the voice on the other side and her face clouded. "Alright, I'll be right back." She paused for a second listening to the voice of her husband. "Ok, I'll wait for the car but hurry." She urged him. _

_She sighed and hung up. She turned back to the girls, her face still full of concern and worries._

"_What did Tsukasa say?" Yuki asked._

"_Hiroshi is not feeling well so I need to return home immediately." Both Yuki and Sasha nodded. Tsukushi earlier showed Sasha a photo of her little boy who was just adorable in his baby blue playsuit, laughing from ear to ear._

"_I hope it's nothing serious." Both girls were honestly worried and that strangely helped Tsukushi to calm down a bit._

"_It's probably just a minor cold but still, I want to be with him." Tsukushi's mother's instinct was coming up and she was impatiently waiting for the car. When she finally left, Yuki and Sasha both headed home._

Sasha sighed as she entered her living room. _I hope Tsukushi's son will be ok._ She thought. She stopped when she almost set her foot on paintbrush she left on the floor the evening before. She realized that her living room is quite messy thanks to her preparing gifts for Akira.

_I need to clean up a bit._ She left her handbag on the floor next to the couch and picked up the brush and black and red ink. Then she bent down for Akira's shirt fixed in a wooden frame. The paint on it was already dry and Sasha checked her finished work with critical eyes. _It's not perfect but it looks good._ She complimented herself. Now she just needed to make sure the painting won't disappear after first washing. She carefully took the shirt from the frame and still unfolded, she placed it on a sofa.

She went back for the bags with presents for her family and friends back in her country and dropped them next to her handbag. She really didn't have the energy to pack them at that moment so she sat down on the couch next to the shirt and closed eyes leaving out a big sigh. She relaxed her body for several minutes before standing up again. She needed to prepare everything for her meeting with the owner of the shop which she settled for 9 o'clock in the morning. Sasha knew herself more than enough to know she won't be able to get up sooner and prepare in the morning. A smile spread across her face. She was really looking forward to Saturday. The owner also promised to show her how they make typical Japanese scrolls. _I wonder if Akira will like his gifts. _Her smiled was replaced with nervousness. Although she was enthusiastic about her idea, now she started to doubt. _Well, it's already too late to regret. So I'd better wish for him to like it._

**oOo**

Next day, precisely at 9 o'clock, Sasha opened the door of the shop. The old man was already waiting for her. She smiled and walked to him.

"Good morning." She greeted him with a slight bow and he returned her smile.

"Yes, good morning." He paused. "So can you show me your idea?" He asked and Sasha nodded. She took out a piece of paper with a drawing.

"Hm… this looks rather interesting. I think I might have the right fabrics for you. Please, follow me." He turned and went to the back of the shop with Sasha closely behind him. She was more than pleased to hear that he likes her creation.

She helped him to look for the fabrics, some of them were placed pretty high, and they were soon engrossed in comparing different types of cloths, matching them together in terms of colours and type of fabric.

When Sasha looked at her watch, it was already noon. _Oh, the time surely flies._ She thought. But given the fact that now she had everything she needed, the time was used fully.

The old man also advised her where she can have her creation printed on the chosen fabric and they agreed on the date when Sasha will bring him the finished work so he can make it into a modified hanging scroll.

Sasha thanked him several times and then left the shop in high spirit. _Great, another hurdle cleared. _She thought and smiled.

**oOo**

Next week, on Wednesday evening, Soujirou knocked on the door of Akira's office.

"Come in." Soujirou opened the door and smiled at the sight of his hardworking friend.

"Hi." Akira lifted his head and returned the smile.

"Hi,Soujirou, you're already here? I thought we're supposed to meet at 8 o'clock." Akira checked his watch. It was already past eight. He looked apologetically at his friend.

"Sorry."

Soujirou just waved it off. "It's ok. I see you're pretty busy before Christmas." He didn't wait for his friend's suggestion and sat down comfortably in a chair in front of Akira's table.

"I'll just finish this and we can go, okay?" Akira asked and Soujirou nodded. It gave him a time to organize his thoughts. He asked Yuki about Sasha but she wasn't much of a help as she could just provide him with basic information. Soujirou didn't want to investigate her on his own so he rather decided to ask Akira directly about his new friend. _Well, if she was just a friend I wouldn't mind…_ He thought.

Akira sighed and closed the thick pack of reports. _It's the end for today. _He smiled at Soujirou who seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"You seem to have quite a lot on your mind, Soujirou. Is everything ok with you, Yuki and the wedding?" Akira was really concerned about his friend.

Soujirou woke up from his deep thoughts and smiled at Akira.

"Yes, everything's alright. I was just thinking about my talk with parents today." Soujirou decided to not start the talk about Sasha right away.

"Really? Are they against the wedding?" Akira was sincerely worried.

"No, no, they met Yuki last week and everything went well. It's just that they would like to have a traditional wedding in spring and I don't want to wait that long." Akira nodded as he understood his friend's intention well.

"In the end, we agreed on two weddings, one in a western style in three weeks and another one in Japanese style on a suitable day in spring." Soujirou sighed. "Now I just need to tell the news to Yuki."

Akira laughed. "And what are you afraid of? If she's ready to marry you once, she will agree on marrying you twice. Also, what woman wouldn't want to have two weddings?" Soujirou smirked at Akira's remark.

"Yeah, I suppose so. But still, don't you find it a bit scary? Thinking back, who would have thought that one day I would want to marry Yuki? And pretty desperately, on top of that." Akira laughed at Soujirou's facial expression.

"Yeah, it is hard to believe. Not just the fact you're getting married but also that you say it so proudly aloud." Akira commented.

"Well, let's stop talking about me, what about you? Any plans of settling down?" Soujirou changed the course of their conversation to Akira and was waiting for his friend's answer.

Akira was struck by this sudden question. "No, not yet… W-Why do you ask?" He was worriedly expecting Soujirou's answer.

"You don't need to be so nervous, it was just a thought. You seem to be different from our old times, you work more and spend less time in bars." Soujirou tested the waters, noticing Akira's flustered reaction.

Akira secretly sighed in relief. _So it was just a normal question. _For a second he thought that Soujirou was implying something more. "I guess I just got tired of our old life style."

"Hmm…" Soujirou just nodded. He didn't miss any of Akira's expressions.

"Akira, there's actually one thing I wanted to ask. How well do you know your new friend Sasha? I'd like to have some more information about her because of Yuki."

Akira whose heart stopped at the mention of Sasha's name, started to breath again after Soujirou's explanation.

"Well, what would you like to know? She's employed in one of ours building construction companies and is in charge of developing projects. As for her background, she's from Central Europe, her family which includes parents and one younger brother is from the middle class and they live in their home town in a three-room flat. And you could see what her personality is yourself last time we met."

Soujirou remained silent as he was absorbing all of the information Akira dashed off at him. The way his face beamed while talking about Sasha helped Soujirou to confirm his friend's feelings. _So he really likes her a lot._

"But are you sure she's not after something more than just being your friend?" Soujirou finally asked what he wanted to know.

"H-How do you mean it?" Akira looked at Soujirou, confused by his question.

"I mean, if she's not after your money, for example." Soujirou paused for a second. "Look, I've never seen you having a female friend so I'm just worried about you. But if you tell me that you got her checked and she's alright, I'll gladly accept her not just as your friend but also as Yuki's." Akira whose blood was starting to boil calmed down hearing Soujirou's reasonable words. He smiled assuring at Soujirou.

"You don't have to worry. When I found out she's one of my employees I read her file. I also got to know her during these two months and trust me, she doesn't represent any threat."

Soujirou lifted his hands as a sign of giving up. "Alright, if you say so." He smiled. _Ok, I'll trust Akira's judgement._

"You know what, let's leave this place. It's late and I'm really hungry. What about dinner?" Akira stood up and Soujirou followed him.

"Great idea. Shall I call Rui? I haven't seen him since I returned with Yuki, we could have an F4 meeting. It's been quite some time we spend evening together just the four of us." Soujirou suggested on their way to the elevator.

"Alright, I'll call Tsukasa. Let's hope Tsukushi will let him go." They laughed at the thought and made their calls.


	11. Chapter 11

Hi, my dear readers,

Well, I tried to ask you to decide whether you'd like a longer chapter or two shorter with short time between updates but I guess you want me to make the decision… :-)

As I know that some of you would die without getting the full Christmas day in just one update (Hello, Mac :D) I decided for one long chapter. :-)

Hope you'll like it :-)

Now to my regular answers:

To Matsujun lover:

I'm really happy to hear from you again :D For a moment I got worried you stopped liking my story :-) I also have things that prevent me from writing (work, family and such… :-))

Thanks for your praise, I think I can't use a faster pace as they just need time to get to know each other :-) I think I can reveal now that there is going to be a first important moment in their relationship in this chapter and I'm sure you'll know what it is :-)

There is still Yuki's and Soujirou's wedding coming so I think you'll meet all the pretty boys there :D

To Mac:

NOOOO… I don't want to kill you, really, I would lose one of mine faithful readers :D

I especially wrote long chapter just to fit in everything that happened on Christmas day (it has double length) and of course, to fulfill your wish :-)

As I was writing the end of the chapter yesterday, Akira did something so unexpected that I have no idea what he's going to do in next chapters…

Honestly, I've never thought much about Rui but I'll try to create some side story for him :)

So you're French? Nice to know… I'm sure your English is much better than my French 'cause it's been ages since I learnt and talked French.

To PureFun:

I also think it's high time for them to kiss but you need to wait a little bit longer ;-) But it will be soon… :D

* * *

**Chapter 11**

The weather on Christmas day (24th December, Thursday :-)) was perfect. A two centimetre-layer of snow fell on Tokyo during the night but the morning was bright with clear sky, sun shining with temperature around zero.

Sasha woke up that morning with a smile on her face. She stretched her arms and legs, happy that she doesn't have to go to work. She managed to get two days of holiday and with Wednesday 23rd December being public holiday in Japan, she got three days off in total.

She looked to the corner of the bedroom where her presents for Akira were placed, neatly packed. Only these two things were remaining from all the gifts she bought, for her family, co-workers and friends she made during her stay.

Sasha got up and went to bathroom. _Now I only have to call him and give him the presents._ She sighed. She was suddenly very nervous just with the prospect of seeing Akira. She quickly finished her morning washing, changed her pyjamas for a comfortable sweat pants and leisure t-shirt.

Just when she finished her breakfast, her phone rang.

"Hello, Akira?" She picked up with smile on her face.

"Hi, Merry Christmas." Akira smiled hearing Sasha's voice.

"Merry Christmas to you, too. But why do you call?" She asked forgetting she herself wanted to talk with him.

"What are you doing right now?" Akira avoided her question. Sasha's eyebrows wrinkled.

"I just finished my breakfast, why?" She replied.

"Great. I'll pick you up in about twenty minutes so get ready."

"What? Pick up? Why? Akira? Akira!" Sasha was completely confused but Akira already hung up. She remained looking at her phone in total disbelief. _What was THIS about?_ Still in a daze from the call, Sasha got up and went to the bedroom to change her clothes. She looked at her gifts, contemplating whether she should take both of them with her or leave the larger one for better occasion. _But today is Christmas day… _Before she could decide she heard a sound of the door bell. [author's note: in Sasha's (and my) country we exchange gifts on Christmas Eve (24th) instead of morning 25th :-)]

She went to the front door and when she opened them she saw Akira leaning against the door frame. He smiled and greeted her.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." Against her will, Sasha was drawn into his smiling face.

"Can I come in?" he asked her when she didn't move a single bit.

"Oh, sure." Sasha moved out of his way and scratched the back of her neck nervously. Akira slowly entered scanning every little detail of her home. Sasha quickly closed the door and turned to him.

"How did you get into the building?" She asked.

"A very nice older woman let me in." He turned to face her. Akira was enjoying the view of flustered Sasha.

She quickly walked past him and led him to her living room. He looked around the small but clean place. _Thanks God I did my Christmas cleaning yesterday. _Sasha thought.

"I need to take a few things with me, could you wait here for a minute?" Akira nodded and Sasha disappeared behind door that led to her bedroom. There she leaned against it. _.God. I must come to my senses. Quickly._ She thought while breathing deeply. Her sight fell again on the gifts. _There's only one solution._ She took her handbag and put the small package into it. Then she put it on her shoulder and bent down to pick up the larger one. It was almost one metre tall, over sixty centimetres wide and was also pretty heavy thanks to the wooden frame.

She opened the door and carefully went through with her package. Akira's eyes widened as he saw her carrying a big thing packed in a wrapping paper with Christmas motive on it.

"What is it?" He asked cautiously. Sasha's head popped from behind and she smiled.

"Your Christmas present." A blood rushed to her cheeks and she blushed. _Gosh, this is so embarrassing. _She hid behind the frame again.

Akira was so taken a back that his chin fell. He was speechless. He scratched his forehead and then laughed silently, hiding his delight. He walked towards Sasha and took the package from her hands.

"If it's my present then I should be the one to carry it." Sasha bowed her head down because she didn't want Akira to see her face which was completely red. "Thank you."

She slowly lifted her head and smiled. They were looking at each other for a moment. Akira was the one to break the contact.

"We need to go."

"Where?" Sasha asked regaining her composure.

"That's a secret." Akira winked at her and started to walk towards the exit of her flat leaving Sasha with no other option than to follow him.

**oOo**

"So, can you tell me now where are we going?" Sasha asked when they were already in car and heading down the road.

Akira shot a glance at her and smirked. "I told you it's a secret." He laughed seeing Sasha's sour face.

She gave up trying to ask him for more information as he seemed to decide to not tell her anything anyway. She sighed and looked out the window. A small delighted smile spread across her face. She slightly opened the window and breathed in the fresh cold air. _I like this. _She thought.

Akira noticed the touch of cold air on his face and looked at Sasha. "Do you like winter?"

"Not really. But I like this weather." Sasha turned her head. "I love sun, blue sky and fresh wind. I just close my eyes, breathe in and 'Aahh, this feels great, I'm glad to be alive' goes through my mind." Sasha blushed slightly. _Gosh, now I'm blabbering nonsense. Where did my brain go?_

Akira didn't say anything and just smiled. He understood her perfectly. When he was small he got this feeling too but it happened less and less since he started to understand the world he's living in until it completely dissolved into the dust. He never realized he's missing something until he met her although he was already getting more and more unsettled for several last months. Tsukasa and Tsukushi got married and had their first child, Soujirou was desperately looking for Yuki and he started to feel that everything is changing around him, getting out of his reach and leaving him in an empty space completely alone. _Perhaps this is what they call 'the need to settle down'. _He thought.

He stole another glance and noticed Sasha closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun. He stared at her for another second and then quickly shook his head to concentrate on the road again.

Soon they stopped in front of a big gate and after pushing the button on a remote control in his car, the door slowly opened and revealed a huge mansion hidden behind it.

Sasha, who almost fell asleep during the ride, opened her eyes. _What the hell is this? _She was completely perplexed by the sight and just sat in her seat with her mouth slightly opened.

"So, we are finally here." Akira announced and stopped the car in front of the big entrance door. Sasha just nodded still unable to find her voice. She followed Akira who just rang the bell.

The door plucked aside and Sasha was once again shocked to see Akira's sisters' smiling faces.

"Oniichan, you're finally here!" Both Emu and Memu shouted at their brother but stopped when they saw Sasha standing next to Akira with dumbfounded expression.

"What are_ you_ doing here?" Memu shot a question. Her words helped Sasha to finally overcome her shock. She smirked and looked at Akira awaiting his answer.

"That's what I would like to know too."

"Well, you need to get your presents, don't you?" That got her again.

"Presents? What presents?" She asked with lifted eyebrows.

"Christmas presents, of course." Akira just smiled and gently pushed her inside the house, ignoring his flabbergasted sisters. He led Sasha inside big entrance hall and she just looked around astonished by the space. _This is totally crazy. _She thought but still followed Akira.

Memu leaned her head towards Emu. "Hey, Emu, I think our oniichan has lost his mind."

"Yeah, he definitely has. Over her." Both girls just shook their heads. Then they looked at each other and mischievous smiles spread across their faces. They nodded in a silent agreement.

Sasha suddenly stopped walking and made Akira look at her questioningly.

"Why did you stop?" He asked and returned to her.

"I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me where exactly we are going." She folded her arms on a chest.

"We are going to my room." He replied softly smiling. Sasha petrified.

"WHAT?" She almost screamed.

"To my room. Where do you think I left my gift for you?"

"B-But I can just wait in the hall and y-you can bring it there. T-There's no need for me to go with you." Sasha started to stutter. _Not to mention that I've never been to a man's room before. _Her heart started acting up and she was short of breath. _Calm down, Sasha, he's just a friend, a friend!_

"Aren't you a tiny bit curious to see my room? I already saw your flat so take it as a friendly exchange." Sasha just gave him an awkward smile and followed him hesitatingly down the long hallway. _He's just a friend._ She reminded herself again.

When Akira opened the door to his room, Sasha's eyes widened once again. Saying 'it's a room' was an understatement. She entered big living room that mirrored the fact a man is living there. _Awesome. _Sasha was looking curiously around while Akira went into door leading to other room of his mini flat. He smiled as he took the two things he prepared for this day.

He returned back to Sasha who was studying the furniture and ended up by the window looking outside to the beautiful garden, now hidden under the snow. He placed the smaller one on a small commode. He cleared his throat and Sasha turned to him. They exchanged smiled and Sasha noticed Akira was hiding something behind his back. She lifted up her eyebrows.

"What's that?" She asked and pointed to his hands.

Akira smiled and slowly showed what he was holding. Sasha's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"This? This is my gift for you." He walked towards her and extended his hand holding the katana to her. Sasha, who was still completely flabbergasted, automatically stretched her own hands and Akira dropped the sword to them.

Sasha felt the weight of the sword in her hands. She continued silently watching the thing in her hands and her brain didn't produce a single thought. An unbelieving smile appeared on her lips and she silently laughed.

With amazed eyes she looked at Akira who was still standing in front of her delighted by her reaction.

"I-It's a sword." Sasha said still uncomprehending.

"Yes." Akira replied.

"A real sword." She repeated.

"Yes." Akira was never this happy when he himself received a gift.

Sasha's expression changed in an instant. She attempted to give the sword back to Akira.

"B-But I can't accept such expensive gift." Akira walked backwards from Sasha who followed him still with her hand stretched.

"You must. I'm not going to take back my present for you unless you want me to return your gift for me." He countered.

Sasha stopped. Of course she didn't want him to return her gift. _He hasn't seen it yet._

"But mine wasn't that expensive and this… This is just too much." She lifted the sword.

Akira just shook his head. "No, no, I won't change my mind." He smiled at Sasha's confused look.

"I will go to pick up your gift from the car now and you can look at the sword in the meantime."

When Akira left, Sasha sat down on a cream white sofa placing the sword on her lap. She still couldn't believe he really gave her a katana. She touched the scabbard with the tips of her fingers feeling the energy hidden inside. She slowly held the handle and pulled. She opened the sword and the light reflected by the blade almost blinded her. Sasha just breathed out in a pure amazement. The sword was simply perfect. She covered the blade again and carefully laid the sword back on her knees. _I can't accept it. If I do then I…_ She didn't finish the thought.

When Akira returned holding the big package he got from Sasha, he found her looking blindly out of the window lost in her thoughts. He wondered what could cause such change in her behaviour and decided to bring her back to the present.

"I'm back." He said a bit louder and Sasha almost jumped from her seat alarmed by his voice. "This is pretty heavy I must say." He laid the wrapped gift on the floor.

Sasha scratched her forehead, stood up and smiled at him apologetically.

"Sorry."

"Never mind. Can I open it now?" Akira asked her.

Sasha got suddenly nervous again but nodded. She was worriedly expecting his reaction.

Akira started to tear up the paper and when he finished, he just stared silently at Sasha's work. It was a hanging scroll, yet it wasn't. The painting which was on a cream white silk fabric with golden edges was placed in beautifully decorated silk and that all framed by a black wooden frame. The painting itself was a mixture of western and Asian style. He touched the kanji sign that meant "Ichigo Ichie" and the rest of the words written in Latin, English, French, Spanish and Sasha's mother language, all having the same meaning as the Japanese writing. He smiled softly. _So she remembered that. _

Sasha was getting impatient thinking that the only reason why Akira remains silent must be because he doesn't like her present.

"I'm sorry if you don't like it. I couldn't think up anything else and I thought that you might…" Sasha started to talk but her voice faded away and she just looked at Akira, regrets and sadness written all over her face.

Akira didn't notice her words at first as he was still studying her work. Belatedly he lifted his head and smiled at Sasha.

"I like it." He said and Sasha's eyes filled with reluctant hope.

"Really?"

"Yes." He assured her and his smile widened seeing her big sigh of relief. She sat down on the sofa with her knees weak.

"How did you do it?" He asked when he rested the gift against the armchair and sat down next to Sasha.

"Well, I found a very nice shop making hanging scrolls and the owner helped me. First I got the western signs printed on the fabric we chose then I wrote the kanji and brought it back to the shop where we finished it." Sasha was happy that Akira liked his gift. She had doubted about it for a long time unsure whether he will like her work or not. That reminded her of her second present. She picked up her bag and started to look for the small package inside.

Akira watched her confused and his eyes widened when Sasha took out another wrapped package and extended her hand towards him.

"Merry Christmas." She said and smiled widely at him.

"Another gift?" Akira asked mundanely. He took the gift and unwrapped it. He started to laugh when he saw his shirt and the picture od black dragon with red border line painted on the side where used to be the stain from the wine.

"Wait a minute." He placed the shirt next to him and stood up. Sasha just watched him confusedly.

Akira picked up his second gift which he left on the commode. He sat down on the sofa again and gave the package to Sasha.

She opened it and understood Akira's laughter just minutes ago. She looked at him and they both started to laugh.

Sasha took out a bottle of red wine and looked at the etiquette. It was her favourite Italian wine.

"Thank you."

"Me too." They were looking into each others eyes and the space between them filled with tension. Both of them remained silent, unsure what to do, how to break from the hold of the other one's eyes or whether they actually want to break the connection.

A silent knock on the door solved the problem. Akira hesitatingly turned his sight.

"Come in." The door opened and revealed his mum's head.

"Akira-kun? I've heard from the girls that we have a visitor." Akira's mum said sweetly and entered the room. Sasha was once again shocked. _This is his mum?_ She saw a lady in her forties with long brown hair in two ponytails with red ribbons, dressed in a Christmas dress usually worn by Santa's helpers elves. Sasha blinked several times. She didn't know whether to laugh or not but her upbringing showed up and she managed to suppress any trace of laughter. She stood up and smiled politely.

"Good morning, Mrs. Mimasaka, I'm Sasha Novak, Akira's friend." She bowed lightly.

Akira also stood up unsure what to think about his mum's sudden visit. It wasn't like she has never visited him in his quarters, right the opposite, but he thought that by this time, she would be completely engrossed in preparing Christmas dinner commanding the personnel. Christmas was almost the only time in a year when they were meeting as a whole family including his father.

"Mum, is something going on? Do you need a help with anything?" Akira couldn't think about any other reason for her visit.

"No, no, I just wanted to see my son and greet our guest." She almost danced towards them and stopped right before Sasha who noticed that she was wearing and extra high shoes on an extra high platform so she was slightly taller than her. Akira's mum examined her thoroughly with one quick glance before she smiled at her.

"Nice to meet you, Sasha, welcome to our humble home." _Humple?_ _Wish you to see my humble home._ Sasha thought.

"Thank you." She answered.

"Akira-kun? Sasha is surely staying for the lunch, am I right?" Sasha shot a terrified look at Akira. She thought he would take her home now that they exchanged the gifts.

"I just wanted to ask her to." Akira replied to his mum with little inconvenience in his voice. Originally he wanted to take her to a nice restaurant but his mum destroyed this plan by her sudden invitation.

"But it wouldn't be right, Christmas is time to be with your family, an intruder would surely be inconvenience." She tried to argue her way out. _Knowing we're coming here I would protest much more._ She really didn't feel right disturbing the family right on Christmas day.

"Akira's friend could never be an inconvenience." Akira's mum said convincingly much to Akira's delight.

"But it's really inappropriate and in my country, we usually don't have lunch on Christmas day, only the dinner so I really think I should-" But before she could finish her excuse Akira's mum was already out of the door. Akira just smiled and followed his mum.

Sasha wanted to say more but closed her mouth again and sighed heavily. _Now I know where he got his persuasive abilities. _She unwillingly submitted to their will and followed Akira and his mum to the dining room.

**oOo**

The lunch proved to be a tough experience. Although the food was pretty light and delicious, Sasha found herself unable to consume much of it. Feeling like sitting on a bundle of needles she carefully avoided the intent stares of Emu and Memu. Sasha secretly suspected that it must have been these two who told Akira's mum about Sasha's visit.

"So, Sasha, where did you meet our Akira?" Akira's mum suddenly asked making Sasha drop her chopsticks. Emu and Memu just lifted their eyebrows and slightly shook their heads.

"We met at work." Sasha opened her mouth but it was Akira who answered the question. She looked at him questioningly but he pretended not to see it.

His mum paused for a second but then continued.

"So you two work together? And how do you like it?" She smiled at Sasha.

"We get along pretty well." Again Akira answered instead of her. All four women around the table stared at him like they have never seen him before. After a moment of surprise, Akira's mum smiled at her son and said sweetly.

"My dear son, it seems like you're so overloaded with work that you forgot it's impolite to answer questions meant for someone else." Akira's cheeks got lightly red and Sasha secretly chuckled.

"I'm not going to hurt your dear friend, I'm just curious and want to know more about her." Although the voice of his mum was sweet Sasha didn't miss the lethal edge hidden in it. _This lady only looks like sweet doll. No wonder she's a wife of yakuza boss._ Sasha thought and felt respect for the small lady sitting in the head of the table.

"So, Sasha, you work with my son?"

"Not exactly. I work at one of your building companies." Sasha smiled as she calmly replied the question.

"Then how did you meet my son? I guess it wasn't at work as he tried to say." She shot him a quick glance. Akira just lowered his head.

Sasha smiled widely. "Well, we were officially introduced at work but we already met once before."

Akira's mum lifted her eyebrows with interest. "Oh, really? Where did you meet if I can ask?"

"At the bar. I accidentally spilled my wine on Akira's shirt. Of course, I didn't know at that moment that he's my boss."

"I see. So then you met again and became friends." She concluded and Sasha confirmed it with a nod.

Akira's mum looked from Akira to Sasha and nodded satisfied with her answers. _Later_ _I'll ask Akira more after he takes her home. _She thought.

"So how do you plan to spend the rest of the Christmas day?" She asked and Sasha was glad the topic changed from her relationship with Akira to safer one. She happily answered and the conversation aroused between all of them.

Both Emu and Memu were satisfied with their plan because they knew their mum is going to draw out every single bit of information about Sasha from Akira right this evening. Akira was glad the interrogation was quickly over hoping it won't continue after his return although he also knew his mum more than well to know she won't give up so easily and Sasha just secretly prayed for the lunch to be finished soon. Although they all were very kind to her she just didn't feel right to intrude their home on this special day. _They might not celebrate the Christmas the way we do but still I was brought up this way and this IS the day when a family should be together without any outsiders._

**oOo**

When the lunch was finally over Sasha thanked for the food and quickly stood up prompting Akira to take her home. It was around two o'clock in the afternoon when they finally sat down in Akira's car with all Sasha's gifts. Akira's mum didn't take 'no' for the answer and let the stuff pack some food for Sasha. She felt even worse for not bringing anything in return which Emu and Memu mischievously reminded her just before they left. Sasha just look accusingly at Akira. _It's all his fault._

Their way back was filled with pleasant conversation and jokes so before Sasha knew it, they were already in front of her house. They remained in their seats and sudden silence filled the air. Sasha didn't want to get off and finish their time together so she pretended to be busy picking up her things which she did really slowly but after several minutes she had everything in her hands and without any other excuse she looked at Akira and smiled.

"So, I should go now."

"Yeah." None of them moved. Suddenly Akira leaned towards Sasha and kissed her on a cheek. Sasha's eyes widened and her lips slightly parted from the surprising Akira's action.

Akira straightened again in his seat not really comprehending what he's just done.

"Merry Christmas." He said quietly.

Sasha nodded and finally opened the door. Once outside she turned and waved at Akira who waved at her back. He then started the engine and led the car back into the traffic.

Sasha remained at her spot watching him until he disappeared around the corner. She couldn't hide it anymore. _I love him…_ Her heart was full of loving feeling and her brain was empty except for this one and only thought. _I love Akira._ A silent tear rolled down her cheek. _What am I to do now?

* * *

I wanted to post here links for you to see the gifts but I seem to be unable to do so... :-( For those of you who also read stories at Love unparalleled you can find the links there... this applies for the wedding dresses in previous chapter as well..._


	12. Chapter 12

Hello, my dear readers :-)

I hope you liked the Christmas presents although I didn't get many reviews in return ( :-( ) But I'm still grateful for the increasing number of hits after each release :-)

To MatsuJunLover:

Well, you'll know how she feels about her newly found feelings in the following chapter :-) Your guess is quite close :-)

Oh, I'm really happy you like the presents, it took me long time to come up with them :-)

Well, honestly, I didn't understand why Akira did it too :D (it's quite funny because I'm the author…) It took me some time but I guess that subconsciously he wanted his mum to meet Sasha and also see if Sasha can stand against his mum's and sister's curious questions, something like if she's really the one who wouldn't be scared away by them… I don't know how to describe it precisely but I hope you understand me :-)

[also to your comment on my other story – Twelth' night: yeah, it is short, I know and I'm sorry :-) and yes, it is completely AU; yes, it is Sumatra of Indonesia, I hope I didn't make any mistake placing a tea plantation in there :-) Unfortunately I've never been there :-( I live in Central Europe and your country is at the other side of the world for me (too expensive for holidays :-)) But I hope I'll be able to visit Indonesia in the future as well as Korea and China. :-) My plan now is to work in Japan so I study Japanese diligently.]

Ok, everybody, here's the chapter 12, Enjoy and review, please :-)

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_I shouldn't have done it. _Akira thought when he was driving away still watching Sasha, standing in front of her house, in a rear window of his car. He must have gone mad. Akira himself didn't understand his own actions anymore. First, he called Sasha and instead of bringing the gifts to her, he got the insane idea to take her home with him. _Just what was I thinking? _Now he didn't know why the idea of showing her his house was so compelling for him. _Was it because I wanted to see her home? But I could see it even without her seeing my house, so why?_

Akira just couldn't solve the puzzle his heart was giving him. _And why do I miss her already? _He was getting more and more desperate and confused.

And then it dawned on him. He stepped on the brakes which produced a high pitched sound leaving the car standing in the middle of the road. Fortunately the traffic wasn't heavy so he didn't cause an accident although his action caught the attention of people walking down the street.

_I love her._ He realized. An unbelieving laugh escaped from his lips. He remained motionless until he heard a claxon of the car behind him that made him move the car again.

Akira knew he won't be able to continue driving safely now so he found a silent side street and parked his car there.

He still couldn't believe it but even though he searched through his mind and heart he didn't find any mistake in the simple logic. _I really fell in love with Sasha._ He started to laugh in pure amazement. _I, the most infamous ladies man in Tokyo, fell in love with an ordinary girl. And completely unconsciously! _

His laugher slowly disappeared when he started to realize what this all means. Akira leaned against his seat and closed his eyes. He sighed heavily. _What should I do now? Shall I tell her what I feel or shall I hide it?_ He punched the steering wheel. _God, why am I so disturbed? It's so unlike me! _A quick look at the time told him he should soon be heading back home. Never in his life he wanted to avoid his family so much but he also knew that the Christmas Eve is a day when he must be at home for dinner at all cost.

Checking the time again Akira knew he has a bit more time before going home so he decided to go for a drive. _It will at least give me some time to absorb this surprising revelation._ He sighed again. For the first time he was glad he won't see Sasha until the next week as he needed the time desperately to sort out his thoughts.

**oOo**

When Akira's car disappeared, Sasha finally turned and blindly went into the house. She was managing on automatic programme while her mind was in some remote place. Somehow she got safely into her flat. She stood in the hallway for a long time before carefully leaving all the packages with the food and her gifts on the floor. She changed her shoes for slippers and went to her living room.

There she sat down on the sofa and covered her face with hands. _I really fell in love with __Akira. _Still in awe from the revealed fact Sasha shook her head. _What am I gonna do now? I can't possibly tell him, right? He thinks of me only as of his friend…_ Sasha's face saddened for a moment. _On the other hand, do the Japanese kiss their friends on cheek? Or was it some kind of Christmas gift?_ She looked around her small apartment. She would have never thought this could happen to her. When she decided to study Japanese, then find work in Japan and fulfil her biggest life's wish she never counted with this possibility. Sure, her family made fun of her telling her not to find a small Japanese boy or they would disinherited her and she always replied Japanese men are not her type… _But now…?_

Sasha sighed and closed her eyes leaning against the sofa. After several minutes, she looked at the ceiling and small smile appeared on her face. _Just how did he do it? How did he get inside the walls around my heart without being noticed at all?_ She wondered. It was for the first time in her life someone has managed this and she couldn't help but be curious as well as surprised.

Sasha slowly got up and went to collect all the things she left in the hallway before. She carefully placed all the food in the fridge including the wine from Akira. Then she sat down on the sofa again, this time holding the sword. Now she finally let herself to carefully look at her most precious gift. Akira promised to give her all the necessary documents which she will need when leaving the country but now she could only think about the clear and sharp steel underneath her fingers. Gently touching the line creating a scenery of mountains on the body of katana Sasha admired the perfect work of a sword maker. _It's really perfect._ She thought while softly smiling. She then carefully covered the blade with the scabbard and laid it on a table.

Sasha once again returned to her current problem. _A problem? _She stopped in her thoughts for a second. _Is it even a problem that can be solved? I love him already so what is there to think about? _She wondered. _Until now I always ran away from any relationship that could turn into something more than friendship but I can't do that anymore. _Sasha's expression softened with smile and her heart calmed down. All this while, for the whole time she knew Akira, she was feeling the strange tension in her chest but now it loosened up thank to her realizing her own feelings. It didn't take her much to imagine Akira's smiling face and her heart filled with warmth. _Well, what is supposed to happen will happen, right? Now I can only wait till I see him again and then I'll know what to do… At least I hope so._ Sasha sighed again but with this decision she stood up and picked up her phone to call her family to wish them Merry Christmas.

**oOo**

Akira arrived home just in time for the dinner. Still distraught by his own actions and feelings, somehow, he managed to go through the dinner although his mind was elsewhere. His state of mind wasn't missed by his mum who planned her next set of questions right after the dinner. She couldn't help but worry about Akira's sudden change of mood. _Something has happened. _She thought and was 100% positive it has something to do with the girl Akira so unexpectedly brought to their home earlier that day.

Once the food was finished Akira excused himself and went into his room. His mum gave him only few minutes before she followed him.

She softly knocked on the door and entered the room quietly.

"Akira?" She called and her son came out from his bedroom.

"Yes?" Seeing his mum reminded him of the lunch. He realized she must have come to ask more questions but he definitely wasn't ready to answer them. _I, myself don't know the answers. _

His mum studied his face for quite a long time before placing her question.

"I just wanted to ask if you brought Sasha home safely."

"S-Sure, I did." He really didn't want to think about his unforseen action - a kiss on Sasha's cheek. He could still feel the texture of her skin on his lips.

"Ah, I see." Seeing her son's devastated expression she changed her mind and decided to postpone her inquisition for better time.

"You seem to be pretty tired, you should get some rest." She said and turned to leave.

"Thanks, mum." Akira was really grateful she didn't continue with her asking.

"Mum?" He called and she turned with hand on a door knob.

"Yes?"

"Ehm… I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Sasha's visit today. I forgot the gifts at home and didn't have a time to pick them up so I brought her with me…" Akira tried to explain his action but it didn't sound trustworthy even to him.

His mum just smiled. "It's ok, son, I didn't mind at all." She paused for a second. "She seemed to be a well-mannered and nice girl." She added and left the room silently closing the door and leaving Akira alone.

She then returned to the big living room to her husband. Akira's father was sitting on a sofa relaxing after an opulent dinner. She sat down next to him leaning her head on his shoulder. Although their marriage was arranged by their parents she fell in love with this silent and dangerous man at first sight. She was more than happy when she found out he loves her too even though he wasn't saying it often. _Well, more like never. _She thought but without any malicious feeling. She could sense the love her husband has for her even if he didn't say a word.

"I've heard we had an visitor today." Akira's mum lifted her head to look into her husband's face.

"The girls have told you?" She asked.

"Yeah." He looked into his wife's eyes questioningly. She just smiled and placed her head back on his shoulder. She knew he wanted to hear everything that happened but she also needed time to sort out her own thoughts.

"So?" He was getting a bit impatient waiting for her answer.

"Well, I'm sure Emu and Memu already told you all the details." She tried to evade his question.

"But I want to hear it from you as well." In fact they only told him that Akira has brought a friend home today, a female friend.

"And what do you want to hear, darling?" She smiled at him like a sun.

"Honey…" A warning was clearly audible in his voice.

She sighed. She had no other option than to say it straight. "Alright, if you need to know it then your son has fallen in love for the first time." She said pouting her lips like a small child.

Her husband lifted his eyebrows surprised by her sudden declaration.

"What?"

"You've heard me."

"Akira's in love? Are you sure?" He asked and his wife looked at him with even angrier look.

"Do you think I don't know my son enough to know if he's in love or not?" She tried to stand up but her husband hold her hand and made her sit down again.

"I know you do, calm down. I'm just surprised that's all." He paused for a moment. "So who is the happy girl? Is it the one who was here today? Judging from Akira's previous affairs I suppose she's pretty and rich."

The silent after his statement made him look at his wife suspiciously.

"Why aren't answering? Is she not pretty, rich and from good family?"

"Well… She is quite pretty… But as for the rest…" Akira's mum was speaking very slowly. Then she decided that the best defence is to attack. "I've only seen her once how do you expect me to know all of this?"

"Alright." He stood up. "I'm going to ask Akira directly." He started to walk towards the door but his wife caught his hand and in a strange formation with her strongly holding his sleeve he dragged her through the room towards the door.

"Honey, please, leave him alone for today. It's Christmas Eve, we should be enjoying the atmosphere." Her pleading made him stop and look at her. She released his sleeve and adjusted her dress.

"Tell me one good reason why I should do as you say."

"Darling, first our son is already an adult so we should trust him he can choose a suitable partner." She stopped for a second seeing her husband doesn't take this as a sufficient reason.

She sighed and solemnized. "Honey, our son has just found out that he's in love and has a lot to sort out on his own. I wanted to question him myself but seeing his peaky face I just couldn't do it." She touched her husband's arm. "Let's give him some time and we'll see where this will go and we can adjust our action to it."

Her husband didn't say anything and just watched her pleading face. With a big sigh he gave up.

"Alright. I'll listen to you for once." Akira's mum smiled happy with her victory. Immediately she was back in her sweet childish self.

"I love you, honey. Now I'll personally make your coffee." She beamed like a sun and danced towards the door. She opened it and turned to her husband who returned to the sofa.

"Darling? I forgot to tell you one thing." He looked at her questioningly.

"What thing?"

"There's one more thing Sasha is not… She's not Japanese." With this last bomb dropped Akira's mum disappeared leaving her speechless husband behind.

**oOo**

On Monday noon next week, Akira was still at the same spot as on Thursday evening. Still unsure whether to do something about his newly found feelings or not, he finally lost patience over his own indecisiveness. He didn't talk with Sasha since Christmas and he just couldn't stand the tension anymore. _I need to see her right now. I'll decide what to do after that._

He abruptly stood up, took his coat and left his office. He didn't even stop walking and just uttered to his secretary he's going out for a lunch. He quickly boarded the elevator and impatiently waited until it stops in the underground garage. The prospect of seeing Sasha soon made him hurry to his car and then towards her office.

Soon he stopped the car in front of the building. Before he could get off the car he saw Sasha coming out of the entrance with an unknown young man. She was smiling as the man held the door for her and together they headed down the street. Akira completely froze. His mind couldn't comprehend the scene he just saw but he felt the anger growing inside his chest. It cost him all his effort not to jump out of the car and kill the man in an instant. _Calm down, Akira, calm down. They're just walking together, you can't kill him just because of that._ Still he couldn't suppress the desire. Suddenly he jumped off the car determined to follow Sasha and to find out who is the man with her but before he could do it, a director of the building company blocked his way. He started to greet him cordially and Akira had no other option than to return his greetings and attend to him. When he finally freed himself Sasha and her companion were long gone.

**oOo**

Sasha, completely clueless about being seen by Akira, followed her colleague to the restaurant where the rest of their colleagues were already eating. They both had to stay in the office a moment longer and now they hurried to eat their own lunch.

The atmosphere there was lively as the women's part of the group wanted to share what they got as Christmas presents and how they spent the weekend. Natsuko was one of the loudest of them and Sasha just had to laugh seeing her friend enthusiastically showing her new necklace she got from her boyfriend. It made her think about Akira who didn't call her for the last three days. This strange silence from him made her wonder if anything went wrong after he left her in front of her house on Christmas day. She wanted to call him several times but she lost the courage at last moment before dialing the number.

"Sasha? Sasha!" Natsuko called her friend who seemed to be completely lost in her thoughts.

"Yes?" Sasha finally heard her.

Natuko smiled. "Where did your mind go? I'm trying to catch your attention for several minutes already."

Sasha just smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I was just thinking about work. What did you ask?" She didn't want to consult her problems with Natsuko who couldn't keep any secrets.

"I wanted to know what you got for Christmas presents." She repeated.

"Well, my family and my friends sent me a package with few things from my country that I won't be able to get here. Several books and such." Natsuko seemed to be disappointed by her answer but Sasha had no intention of telling her about Akira and her memorable Christmas day.

The lunch was soon over and they all returned to the office. Sasha met with her boss who told her about an unexpected problem they had to solve as quickly as possible so she had absolutely no time to think about her situation the whole afternoon. She also had to stay at the office ofter working hours to catch up on her regular work.

**oOo**

Akira returned to his office, fuming with so much anger over his failed plans that even his secretary got a bit scared and decided she better not asks anything from her boss today.

He sat down on his chair but had no intension of working. He could only think about the vision of Sasha with another man. His blood pressure rose everytime he reminded himself of the view. Before he could do something unthinkable he forced himself to concentrate on his work. He wasn't very succesfull but still managed to stay in his office whole afternoon.

At seven o'clock in the afternoon his self-control disappeared. _I can't let it be. I HAVE TO talk to her or I'll do something I don't want to._ With this determination he once again drove towards the building of his building company but not before he made sure that Sasha is still working there securing with the guard she won't leave before he arrives.

He entered the office full of resolve. The moment he saw Sasha with her head bent over the papers on the table, his determination wavered for a second but he regained it quickly. Another emotion joined his already unsettled state. _It's her fault. It's her fault I can't concentrate on anything. It's her fault I lost my usual self-confidence._

Sasha suddenly sensed a presence of another person in the room and lifted her head. She saw Akira standing in the door and she felt her heart skip the beat. She smiled at him with starry eyes.

"Akira, did you come to visit me?" She asked and stood up wanting to go closer to him. She took several steps when she noticed his expression.

"Akira, is something wrong?" She asked with worried voice.

He finally looked at her and Sasha was a bit taken aback by the animosity in his eyes.

"Where were you around noon?" He suddenly asked with icy voice.

"Around noon?" Sasha thought for a second. "I was at the lunch, why?"

"With whom?" Akira disregarded her question.

"Akira, what's wrong with you today?" Sasha just didn't understand his behaviour. He seemed to be completely different person.

"WITH WHOM?" Akira almost shouted and Sasha's chin fell from the shock. She was also slowly getting angry.

"I'm not going to answer you unless you cool down." She said and turned to go back to her table.

Akira wasn't in mood to let her do so. He caught her arm and turned her to him again. Now they were both angry.

"Let go." Sasha said coldly. She just couldn't understand what happen to her friend and she was close to tears but at this moment she would never let Akira to see it.

"No." Akira tried to get his emotions under control but he was slowly loosing the battle. He strengthened up his hold.

"It hurts." Sasha tried to release her arm but to no avail.

"LET GO." She screamed but was immediately silenced by Akira's mouth. He pressed his lips over hers while he pulled her towards him. His other hand caught her head just in case she would want to escape. Sasha was so shocked she couldn't move at all and just let Akira kiss her, eyes widely opened.

After a while Akira loosened his hold and his lips softened. His anger and jealousy suddenly disappeared and he was now kissing Sasha with all the tenderness he was feeling inside. Sasha closed her eyes unconsciously and returned his kiss. She would have never thought this could happen but right now she was just fully enjoying the feeling of being in Akira's arms. Unfortunately it wasn't for long because Akira suddenly realized what he's doing and pushed her away from him. He watched her as she remained with her eyes closed before she realized he's not holding her anymore. She looked at him with puzzled and blurred eyes.

"Sorry. I… I…" He uttered and then saw the red mark on her arm from his hold. Before she could say anything Akira quickly turned on a heel and practically ran from the room. Sasha walked tipsily to her chair and fell on it. She sat there in complete astonishment for a long time until the night cleaning woman came and told her to go home.

**oOo**

Akira went straight into the bar. _Did I realy do it? Did I kiss Sasha? _When he understood what he did and HOW he did it, he just held his head in his hands to prevent himself to knock the desk in front of him with it. _I'm such an idiot! God, why am I sooo stupid? Now she won't even talk to me anymore!_

He ordered another glass of tequila and drank it in one shot. Then he ordered another one. And another one. Soon he lost the count. For the first time in his life he wanted to get drunk and was successful.

Yuichi was watching the now sleeping Akira worriedly. Then he saw his boyfriend Shiro and smiled.

"Hi, Yuichi, did you finish your work?" Shiro smiled at him.

"Pretty much. I only need to take care of this customer." He answered.

"Oh, really? Can't you just leave him here?" Shiro pouted his lips. He wanted to spend the time with his boyfriend alone and not shorten it because of some drunkard.

"Unfortunately no. But you might be interested when I tell you who this sleeping beauty is." Yuichi winked at Shiro and caught his attention.

"So who is it?"

"The best friend of Yuki's boyfriend and also our friend, Mimasaka Akira." Shiro's eyes widened with surprise and he looked at the sleeping person with newly found interest.

"You don't say! It's really him! But why did he get so drunk?" He wondered.

"I have no idea. I tried to ask him several times but he didn't say a word and just kept drinking tequila." Yuichi shrugged.

Shiro sighed and scratched his neck. It was clear they can't let him stay there. After the incident with Soujirou punching Shiro because of Yuki and during the time Yuki was away, they met in this bar several times and somehow became friends. Shiro also didn't want to spend his time searching for someone to take car of Akira. Sure, he could call Yuki but checking the time he changed his mind. She wouldn't thank him if he wakes her in two o'clock in the morning.

"Ok. I got it. Let's take him to our apartment. He can as well sleep in there." Shiro didn't want to lose more of the precious time he could spend with Yuichi. So the three of them, with Akira still unconscious, got in the taxi and headed home.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello, my dear readers :-)

here's the chapter 13 and I must say that the first scene is actually the reason why I started to write this story :-) Just imagining it made me laugh out loud and I hope it will work the same for you.

I also hope that this chapter will make your day a bit brighter because I suppose we all don't like Mondays ;-)

Anyway, read, enjoy and if you have a time, leave me a comment :-)

Now to my usual answers :-)

To MatsujunLover:

I'm really happy you liked it :-) I also love jealous Akira, he's just unbelievingly amusing (haha). I sincerely hope you'll like the continuation of the bar scene…

I also wish I could visit not just your country but other Asian countries as well. But for that I need to save a lot of money :-)

Well, about the quick update, it's becoming a habit – I start writing more when I have an exam coming… instead of learning of course (lol).

I know that the small number of reviews doesn't implicate the story is not good, it's just that firstly, I love reading about someone liking my work and secondly, reviews help me improve my writing. As I think about suggestions I get through the reviews, it helps me to develop my creativity and thus the story gets better… At least I hope it does :-)

Don't worry, I'll finish this story and then I'll concentrate fully on the Twelth' night :-) You just keep on reviewing, ok? ^-^

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Bright light of the sun touched Akira's eyes and made him crinkle his nose. He slowly woke up but left his eyes closed. His head was ringing and his stomach was like on a board of ship in furious storm. He carefully stretched his arms to find out where he is lying. The last thing he remembered was sitting in the bar with a glass of drink in front him.

Akira attempted to open one eye and when he got used to the light he slowly opened the other one too. Still half blind from the sun, he noticed he's in some unknown room. He touched his head hoping the pain would leave him soon. He carefully sat up and when the blanket fell he realized he's almost naked. He quickly checked the rest of his body under the blanket sighing in relief that he still got his underwear on.

Just when he started to look around his surrounding door opened on the other side of the room and a young man wearing only a tiny towel around his waist appeared.

"Oh, so you're up finally." Shiro commented while trying to dry off his hair with another towel.

Akira's eyes widened in pure horror and his jaw fell down. His heart almost stopped.

"Eh... I… Ah…." He couldn't even form the thought nor to say it aloud. Suddenly he felt like he will vomit soon.

Shiro just watched him not really comprehending why Akira's face grew white so suddenly. He looked like he just saw a ghost.

"Are you ok?"

Akira closed his eyes trying to breathe wishing this was just a bad dream. But when he opened his eyes, Shiro was still standing there. He was even more terrified when Shiro started to walk to him.

He quickly lifted his hand and Shiro stopped.

"Di-di-di-di…" Akira couldn't even voice up his question from the horror thought.

"What di-di-di-di? I'm Shiro, not Di-di…" Shiro was still looking at Akira when he suddenly understood why his friend looked so horrified. He looked down on his insufficient outfit and started to laugh.

"Ahh, you mean if we di-di-di-di…" He paused for a moment long enough to draw the rest of the blood from Akira's face.

"No, we didn't."

The relief Akira felt was so strong he fell down on his back again. Shiro just shook his head. _These heterosexuals… They see a naked gay man and just go totally crazy… _He turned to the wardrobe and took out clean underwear and clothes.

"Ehm… How did I get in here?" Akira asked shyly finally regaining his voice. Shiro turned with his things in hands.

"What do you think? I brought you here."

Akira just smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry. The last thing I remember is drinking in bar."

Seeing his diffident expression Shiro took mercy on Akira and sighed.

"Well, I went to pick up Yuichi and you were there, sleeping on the bar. We couldn't leave you there and without knowing who to call we had to take you here with us." Shiro said still little angered because his time with Yuichi was pretty much ruined thanks to this uninvited guest. Not just that he couldn't spend the time with his boyfriend the way he wanted, he also had to sleep on the floor in their tiny living room and in a very uncomfortable position on top of that.

"Sorry." Akira apologized weakly. He wasn't very proud of his behaviour the previous night. He carefully stood up.

"Could you please tell me where is the toilet and bathroom? I don't feel very well." Shiro saw Akira's face becoming more and more green and just pointed towards the door. Akira thanked him by slightly nodding his head and walked tipsily in given direction.

**oOo**

Sasha's evening and night wasn't as adventurous as Akira's but almost equally exhausting and long. After the cleaning lady told her to leave she packed her things and somehow got out of the building. There she stood for a long moment letting the cold air to make her brain work again. _Did he really kiss me or was it a dream?_ She touched her still little swollen lips. _No, it wasn't a dream I really got kissed by Akira…_ She started slowly walking to the underground station. Her eyebrows wrinkled. _But why did he run away? Did… did I do something wrong? Or did he change his mind?_ Her heart filled with worries and doubts while she tried to find out the reason for Akira's extraordinary behaviour. _Why did he kiss me anyway? Does… Does he…_ Sasha was reluctant to finish her thought and she bit her lower lip. _Is it possible that… that he… likes me? _She stopped for a second before quickly getting off the train at her station. She didn't want to hope for much but couldn't suppress a sudden hope rising in her chest. _But if he likes me why did he run away? _Her feelings were swinging up and down leaving Sasha helpless and without any idea what to do next.

Back in her apartment she didn't even put on the light and went straight into the bedroom. There, still completely dressed, she sat down on her bed. Her mind was still working in the circles not finding any exit from the riddle of her feelings and events of that day's evening. Sasha then stopped trying to find solution. She lied down, closed her eyes and with her fingers touching her lips basking in the delight when she replayed every moment of Akira's kiss again and again. At that moment she was feeling so much love for him it almost made her cry.

**oOo**

Akira's father was sitting in his office that Tuesday morning. After cleaning his table from all the necessary papers he leaned comfortly against the chair. His thoughts returned to the Christmas Eve's conversation with his wife. The comments about Akira's supposed new girlfriend kept bothering him this whole time. _I guess I should get to know this young lady._ He thought as he looked through the file containing all information about Sasha that was delivered to him that day. _I promised my dear wife not to ask Akira but she didn't say a word I can't ask the girl._ He smirked contently and picked up the phone. _Let's see how serious their relationship really is and what is she like. _

**oOo**

Akira managed to get into his own office just before noon. Leaving a curiously looking secretary behind the door, he sighed and sat down in his chair. Now he was finally alone. He quickly refreshened in Shiro's apartment and then literally fleed away from there. He was embarrassed more than ever in his life. _God, what was I thinking? Drinking like some notorious drunkard! _Then he remembered. Now he wasn't only embarrassed but also sad. _How am I gonna get myself out of this trouble?_ His sight fell on the calendar on his table and he realized that Yuki's and Soujirou's wedding is the next day.

Covering his face with hands Akira deeply sighed. He was supposed to go there with Sasha but now he didn't have the courage to call her and ask about it. _Somebody help me._ He held his head in hands for awhile. Then he pushed the button on the intercom.

"Could you please bring me a cup of strong coffee? Thank you." He asked his secretary. She brought the hot drink in just few minutes and Akira's mind became clearer after sipping the hot liquid.

Now he was finally able to analyse what he did and why. Not really eager to admit it but he knew very well he overreacted driven by nothing else than jealousy.

Akira smirked. _Me and jealous? _He thought ironically. It has never happened before. His expression changed into a genuine smile. _But this is Sasha I'm talking about. Everything is new with her._ That thought brought him back to his problem. How to call her and make an appointment about the next day's wedding. He sighed again and finally decided to leave it to the evening. _I hope I'll find the right words by then._

**oOo**

Sasha arrived to work on time but was completely absent-minded all day. Fortunately for her there wasn't much of work to do so she could pretend to be doing something without being noticed by her boss but her state of mind wasn't missed by Natsuko who came to ask her in the afternoon.

"Sasha? Sasha!" Natsuko had to call her twice before Sasha realized someone is talking to her.

"Yes?" She looked at her friend curiously.

"Are you ok? Lately you seem to be thinking a lot about something."

"Ah, am I that obvious? I'm sorry…" Sasha hesitated for a moment. Natsuko was a good friend and Sasha liked her but she wasn't exactly the right person you could confess your problems to. _Especially not problems with Akira._

"It's just that this is for the first time I'm spending Christmas and New Year's Eve away from my family and even though I'm not a child anymore somehow it affects me." Sasha smiled coming up with half-truth explanation.

Natsuko studied her friend's face silently. Then she also smiled and patted Sasha's shoulder.

"Alright, I understand. But you can come to me anytime if you need to talk about your problems."

Sasha just nodded still smiling. She was grateful for Nasuko's offer but she didn't mean to take use of it.

Nasuko returned to her seat and Sasha turned back to the monitor. Her face solemnized. She was waiting for Akira's call whole day but even checking the display of her mobile every two minutes didn't help as she was still just seeing her wallpaper on the screen. _No messages, no calls._

Sasha sighed. Her hopeful thinking that Akira might like her was quickly disappearing but she still couldn't stop wishing and expecting his call.

After the working hours Sasha livelessly took her bag and loitered back home. _After all, he didn't call. Not even a single message... So it must mean that the kiss was just a temporary blackout of his mind… But still… As a friend, shouldn't he at least apologize to me? Even though it would hurt the same as not calling at all… At least he would talk to me…_ Sasha's head was starting to hurt from all the thoughts packed inside.

Suddenly a car stopped by the pavement she walked on. Disturbed from her thoughts Sasha looked curiously at the black car and a men in black suits who blocked her way.

"Miss Novak, you are to go with us." The man in front of her announced.

"And you are…?" Sasha asked already cautious. She quickly checked which way she could possibly escape from them.

"That's not important. Mimasaka-sama wants to see you."

Sasha's eyes widened with surprise.

"Akira?" She asked but the man shook his head.

"No. Mimasaka-sama senior." His answer made Sasha even more surprised but also utterly curious. _What would Akira's father want to talk about with me? _She wondered.

She then looked at the man with sarcasm.

"I suppose, you're not going to just let me go." She asked ironically already knowing the answer.

"I'm afraid I can't. We have our orders."

Sasha deeply sighed. "Well then..." She said and sat down in the car after the man opened the door for her. _This day can't be worse anyway. Let's meet Akira's father. Although I have no idea why he wants to see me, perhaps, he would be able to tell me more about his son… Because now it seems I don't know or understand him at all. _Sasha thought and kept sadly watching the streets outside while the car was moving towards its destination.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello, my dear readers :-)

I apologize for the delay but it took me longer than usual to be satisfied with this chapter. Somewhere in the middle of writing, we (that means me, Mr. Mimasaka and Sasha) had a little argument about the way the discussion was heading and it took some time to satisfy all the parties… I know it sounds like I have split personality but it's actually true :-) just count with me – Sasha, Akira, Akira's mum, Akira's dad, his sisters, Soujirou, Yuki… and so on… lol… It's like living in my own world… but enough about me, I hope you'll like and enjoy the next chapter :-) Hope to read your thoughts on it.

To Di:

Yupiieee, I'm so so happy to hear from you again! :D I was wondering what happen to you but I'm glad that you still found time to read my work :-)

I think I can reveal that Akira's father won't be a monster parent but of course he can't just say yes immediately, right?

The exam is on 5th December actually but it's getting harder and harder as the amount of subject matter is piling up and I'm starting to feel lost (not to mention my working problems) … Well, anyway I still believe I'll be able to succeed :-)

(yes, Matsujun lover is from Indonesia :-))

To Matsujun Lover:

Well, let's say that Akira's father will be someone to help both Sasha and Akira realize how much they like each other and whether their relationship has a future… It's a bit loose explanation but you'll understand later :-)

Yes, their thoughts are usually expressed by italic but I included this ' mark to separate it from the rest of the text so that you could read it clearly on your mobile :-)

I still have about a month till the exam but I'm already starting to feel like running away… in fact, it's good for you because I usually run to the writing instead of studying (haha).

* * *

**Chapter 14**

The car stopped in front of a small Japanese house in the suburb of Tokyo surrounded by high walls. Sasha got off the car and looked around curiously. She would have never expected the headquarters of yakuza being in such place. _'But what do I know about yakuza…'_ She thought as she followed the men inside the house.

The entrance hall was also in Japanese style and Sasha was looking around curiously. Then her forehead wrinkled. '_Why do I suddenly feel like Little Red Riding Hood in front of the wolf?'_ Although she told herself she has nothing to be afraid of she couldn't suppress a wave of worries. '_Relax, Sasha, he won't eat you. At most he'll make you a fish food… By the way, are there sharks in Japanese sea?'_ She asked herself but something was telling her that they are. She deeply breathed in to calm down her suddenly quickly beating heart. The man in black gave her an impatient look so she quickly took off her coat and shoes and hurried to him through a long corridor. At the end of the hallway he knocked on a door and then opened it for her to enter.

Sasha took another deep breath and went in. She remained standing just behind the door, taken by a big surprise from seeing a room equipped with modern furniture and typical tatami floor. It made a strange but interesting contrast. Sasha slightly twitched when she heard the lock on the door behind her click.

She noticed a big table standing at the opposite side of the room. Behind it was sitting a man with broad shoulders, dark hair with several strains of silver and sharp eyes. Sasha didn't know what to do so she smiled and greeted him with a small but polite nod.

"Good evening, Mr. Mimasaka. Nice to meet you." She said with a kind voice that didn't indicate at all the nervousness she felt inside.

Mimasaka Tetsuhiro just lifted his right eyebrow and slightly nodded. _Not bad, she's rather bold._ His first impression of Sasha was quite good. She looked like a composed young working woman. He noticed she was folding her hands nervously and smiled imperceptibly. His reason for bringing this girl here today was mainly to find out the real essence of her relationship with Akira and also to find out more about her even if there's nothing between her and his son. He also planned to talk to Akira. _'But that can wait after I get to know this young lady a bit more.'_ He remembered the information he read about her this morning and he was more than interested to find out whether she's really that kind of person who was described inside the file.

"Good evening, Miss Novak. Please, come here and sit down." He waved shortly to the chair in front of him.

Sasha hesitated for a second and then made her legs move to the offered spot. She was glad she can sit down. Then she lifted her eyes to look at Akira's father directly. She met his scrutinizing sight which took her by surprise for a moment.

Mr. Mimasaka smiled lightly.

"Do you enjoy living in Japan?" He started and caught Sasha off guard again. She didn't expect him to ask such trivial question.

"Well, yes." She replied.

"What about your work? Are you satisfied?"

"Yes, it's very interesting and new for me." Sasha felt like sitting at interview for a new job.

"And what about your family? Aren't they worried for you being so far away from home?" Sasha chuckled softly. _This is heading in an interesting way, more than like interview it's an inquisition._

"No, they're already used to my extraordinary hobbies."

"Extraordinary hobbies? Like what?" Akira's father repeated with one lifted eyebrow. Against his will he was curious to know more.

"Uhm, like studying Japanese, Korean and Chinese among other foreign languages, also calligraphy, embroidering, astronomy, astrology, singing, writing…" Sasha recited several of her activities giving a slight shock to Mr. Mimasaka by the number and variety of her hobbies.

"It's truly extraordinary." He paused for a moment. "I suppose you would like to know the real reason why I called you here today." He wasn't a type of person to loiter around for long.

Sasha casted her eyes down for a second and breathed in. _So here it comes._

"Yes."

"Well, when I heard that Akira brought you to our home on Christmas day I was somewhat surprised."

Sasha's eyes widened. "Oh…. I'm sorry if I disturbed your family that day but I honestly didn't know that Akira is bringing me there." She tried to explain.

Mr. Mimasaka looked at her curiously. "Really?"

"Yes. If I knew it I wouldn't have gone with him." Sasha added.

"Why?"

"Ehh…" Sasha breathed out. "Because Christmas day is a day you should spend with your family or your loved ones alone without any outsiders." She said and then added. "At least that's how I was brought up."

"So… You and my son are not close?" Akira's father asked. Sasha's words played right into his hands.

Sasha didn't answer right away. '_That's what I'd like to know as well…'_

"Well, we are just good friends." _'I hope we are still at least that._ Her face saddened. Her expression wasn't missed by Akira's father who was a master in reading faces. He smirked quietly as he immediately understood this girl also likes his son. _'Well, we'll see how much she does.'_

"Oh, really? But I think Akira would like to be something more."

"WHAT?" Sasha yelped. She couldn't believe her own ears. _'What? WHAT?'_

"As I said, my son seems to be in love with you." He stated absolutely calmly. Sasha just watched him wordlessly. Then she closed her mouth and gathered all her wits together.

"Ehm… Excuse me, but how do you know it? Did Akira tell you anything?" Sasha just couldn't comprehend the information she was getting right now.

"No, but let's say that I have my resources." He smiled.

His answer didn't help Sasha much. She didn't know whether to be happy to hear this and accept it as a truth or to dismiss it as a false alarm.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked quietly.

"Well, because I wanted to know what are your feelings for my son, of course. And I also wanted to see if you're suitable for him."

His answer brought an amused smile on Sasha's face. _Suitable?_

"Excuse me, but, isn't this something Akira should find out and decide by himself?" Perhaps it was because she wasn't Japanese but Sasha really didn't know why Akira's father went to such extreme as to bring her here just to ask about her feelings.

Mr. Mimasaka expected similar answer. His test was just about to start.

"This is not just about Akira but also about the future of our family so I must take several security measures." He paused for a second and seeing Sasha's attention is fully on him, he continued.

"What if I tell you to give up on my son now?"

Sasha's eyebrows wrinkled. "Give up? How do you mean it?"

Mr. Mimasaka smiled. He took a cheque lying in front of him and handed it to Sasha who took it confused but then her eyes widened again when she saw the written amount. _'Nine zeros?'_ She lifted her head absolutely confused.

"What's this?"

"A price for my son."

"HUH?" Sasha started to feel like she lost her brain somewhere between her office and this place.

"I'm offering you this amount in exchange for your letting my son be." Akira's father explained. He was waiting for her reply. Somehow he hoped she won't disappoint him by simply accepting the sum or by a grand gesture of refusing it.

Sasha slowly absorbed this absolutely unexpected situation and her mind equally slowly started to work. Then her sense of humour and reasonable thinking returned. _'Well, I might as well ask…'_

"May I ask you something?" She looked at him with innocent eyes.

"Sure." Mr. Mimasaka leaned against his chair.

"How much is it in dollars? Or in Euros?" Akira's father froze but Sasha continued. "You know, I'm not that good with so many zeros in Yens." She smiled at him apologetically. She was starting to enjoy the situation.

"Uhm… No problem. It's about 5 million dollars."

Sasha's chin fell down a little. She didn't seriously count the amount in her head so she was surprised when she imagined the sum. She scretched her neck and gathered her thoughts again. _'What an amount for a possible lover… I'm curious how much I would be offered as the friend I really am now… Probably not a single penny.' _Sasha thought cunningly. Still she didn't want to lose this battle.

"May I ask you one more thing?" She said and Akira's father who was expecting another unusual question, nodded.

"Do you have it in cash?" Now it was time for his chin to fall. He didn't know if she really meant it or not. _'But would she dare to make fun of me?'_

"Well… not right now but I could have it prepared for you, let's say tomorrow?" He offered.

Sasha pondered over his proposal for a moment. _'I was always so angry seeing similar situation in a TV drama but right now I don't feel offended at all. It's rather amusing than humiliating…' _Then she wrinkled her nose and looked at Akira's father.

"It's very nice of you to offer me such amount of money but I'm afraid I can't accept it." Sasha paused. "You know, it's not like I wouldn't be able to spend the money because I already have an idea what to do with them." She admitted calmly and then continued. "But I do not own your son therefore I can't accept money for him and I also value Akira much higher. Honestly, even though I can't make the same kind of proposal to you for him, I hope you won't mind us continuing being friends because that's what we really are." She handed him the cheque back.

Akira's father just watched her silently, completely amazed by her words that didn't leave him with much to say. '_I think I start to understand why Akira likes her. Ok, one to nill for her.' _

"And what if I still mind? I might as well force you not just to leave your job but this country as well. That all in just a matter of days."

Sasha tilted her head and smiled. She looked into Mr. Mimasaka's eyes.

"And why would you do that?"

Her sudden question caught Akira's father off guard. _'She's asking my why?'_

"To get rid of you, of course." He decided to say it openly.

"But why would you do it? I told you that Akira and I, that we are only friends." Sasha felt a hint of pain in her heart saying aloud those words. Somehow she really wished to be acknowledged as Akira's girlfriend. She smiled bitterly. '_Gosh, I really am weird. No other girl would think like that in this situation.'_

Suddenly a telephone rang into the silence of the room. Sasha quickly picked up her bag and start searching for her mobile. She stumbled when she saw Akira's name on the screen. _'What to do now? Shall I answer it?'_

Mr. Mimasaka watched her struggle and understood that it must be his son calling.

"Aren't you going to pick up the phone?" He asked.

Sasha looked at him cautiously.

"Uhm…" Sasha quickly stood up. "Will you excuse me?" And with these words she almost ran out of the room leaving amazed Mr. Mimasaka behind.

"H-Hello?"

Akira was just about to hang up when he heard Sasha's shaky voice. For a moment he didn't know how to start.

"Uh… hello." A short silence spread between them as they both remembered the previous evening.

"How are you?" He finally managed to ask and then he immediately mentally slapped himself for such silly question.

"Um, I'm fine, thanks. And you?" Sasha also didn't know how to start the conversation. She desperately wanted to ask but she was too scared so she remained silent.

"I'm also fine. I've got a slight headache but nothing serious."

"A headache?" Sasha asked momentarily forgetting about their awkward situation as she worried for Akira's health.

"Yeah. I had too many drinks yesterday." Akira immediately realized what he just said but it was already too late.

"Oh." _'So it meant something for him too. Otherwise he wouldn't have gone drinking, right?'_ A pleasant smile spread across Sasha's face and she blushed a little bit.

"Uh, anyway, the reason I called is because of Yuki's and Soujirou's tomorrow's wedding. We were supposed to go there together so… so I wanted to ask whether it still stands and when I shall pick you up…" Akira blurted out. He deeply breathed in as he said it all on just one breath but he still tried to sound steadily.

Sasha smiled widely. "Yeah, it still stands. The wedding starts at two o'clock, right? So, I think it will be enough to meet at one." She answered suddenly unable to suppress the joy from the fact she'll see Akira the next day.

"Alright. I'll come for you at one c'clock then. See you tomorrow." Akira felt the heavy stone fall from his chest.

"Yeah, tomorrow. Bye." Sasha said quietly and they both hung up. She remained standing in the dark hallway for several minutes, clutching the phone onto her chest, smiling happily. Then she remembered where she is and sighed. She turned and went back to Mr. Mimasaka's office.

"I apologize for the interruption." She said as she returned to her seat. Mr. Mimasaka noticed that her mood went up significantly and wondered what his son told this girl to pull off such a change.

"No problem." He smiled at Sasha already thinking about what he's going to say to Akira.

"I think we already finished our talk."

'_Did we?'_ Sasha wondered but kept her mouth closed. She decided not to worry about it much because all she said was truth and she didn't really have anything to hide.

"Okay then. Can I go home now? It's quite late already."

"Sure, I'll call someone to take you home." Mr. Mimasaka picked up the phone on his table and made a quick call. Then he looked at Sasha who was already standing and he also stood up.

"I must say that it was really nice to meet you, Ms. Novak. I think I understand why my son is so fond of you."

Sasha was quite surprised to hear such praise from Akira's father.

"Me too. I'm also glad I met you. I think I also understand now where Akira got some of his good features." She returned the compliment with smile.

Mr. Mimasaka just chuckled and didn't say anything. Sasha bowed politely and turned to leave. She hesitated with her hand on a door knob for a second and then she turned back to Akira's father.

"If ever Akira decides to ask me to go out with him then I think we might have this discussion again." She paused for a moment and casted her eyes down. "Although I don't think my answer will change much... But who knows?" She smiled and bowed to Mr. Mimasaka again. Then she quietly left the room.

Akira's father watched the closed door for a long time and then he started to laugh aloud. _'This girl is really unbelievable.'_ He thought amused. _Perhaps she might really be the right one for Akira but not so fast. I need to test my son as well.' _With this decision he sat down back to his chair smiling contentedly.

**oOo**

The next day's weather was pleasant and more than suitable for afternoon wedding of Yuki and Soujirou. Sasha woke up quite early and after her usual morning rutine she spent the rest of the time before Akira's arrival by choosing appropriate attire for that occasion. In the end she wore the very first outfit she had prepared the day before. A brown close fitting dress right above the knees with a dark brown ribbon twice wrapped around her just under her bust and brown stocking were matched perfectly with her high heel shoes.

At five minutes to one she heard the door bell and her heart started to race. _'He's here!'_ She thought nervously and put a hand on her heart to calm herself at least a bit. It didn't help at all. She walked slowly to the door and opened it slowly.

The moment she saw Akira's face she once again realized how much she has fallen in love with this man.

Unknowingly to her, Akira had the same problems with his heart. He was already nervous from the morning and with every minute his meeting with Sasha was approaching he was more and more unsettled. The worst moment ever for him was to wait for her to open the door. But the second he so her it was like everything fell into the right place and all his anxiety disappeared in a blink.

"Hi." He said in soft voice that caressed Sasha's ears. She immediately blushed and tried to cover it by turning away from the door.

"Hi."

"Are you ready?" Akira asked.

"Yes, I'll just take my bag." Sasha answered. Then she took her keys and left the apartment more than aware of Akira standing behind her while she was locking the door.

"So, can we go now?" He asked when she finished.

'_Anywhere you want….'_ Sasha thought and then caught herself. Not sure if her voice would come out she only nodded and let Akira guide her towards his car.


	15. Chapter 15, part 1

Hello, my dear readers,

It surely has been a looong time since I last updated. I'm so so so so sorry, really. :-( I wrote about half of the chapter and then… my mind got blank… totally. I knew exactly where I want to go but I just didn't know how to get there… also the annoying thing – real life – got its place as the work got pretty busy… Well, anyway here's first half of the Chapter 15 and I PROMISE to update the second half tomorrow. :-)

Now my usual answers (really late, I know):

To Di:

Yes, the pace of the story is slower because Sasha and Akira need to know each other for a bit before they can become a couple. I didn't have to do this in 'Catch me if you can' because Yuki and Soujirou knew each other for a long time. :-)

To MatsuJunlover:

I'm glad it's easier for you to read now, sometimes I forget but I try to check the text before posting it. :-)

Well, the wedding… this became the biggest obstacle so far in my writing, I just couldn't find the right words to describe it… Well, anyway, it's in the second half of this chapter but I hope you'll like the first half because your baka Tsukasa is in it :-) I seriously enjoy writing about him and Tsukushi, unfortunately they don't appear very often (well, I have a story in my mind about them but that must wait until I finish this one, at least. :-))

Btw, what about your story? I may not update but I'm still here, checking the site every day so if you'll need my help, you can write me anytime. *winks*

Enjoy and thanks for your patience :-)

**Chapter 15****, part 1**

Their ride to the wedding's venue started with a self-conscious silence from both sides. Their ride to the five-star hotel was supposed to take just about fifteen minutes but it took only one minute of silence to make Sasha utterly nervous and Akira as well. After a deep breath he finally mustered his courage.

"Ehm… Sasha?" Akira started shyly.

"Y-Yes?" She perked up while trying to sound calm but it took all of her willpower to quiet down her loudly beating heart.

"When this all is over, I'd like to have a talk with you for a moment. Do you think you'll have time?" Akira looked quickly at Sasha. She returned his sight and smiled.

"Sure." She nodded and Akira sighed in relief. The tension inside the car was finally broken as they kept smiling at each other.

They didn't talk for the rest of the ride but the silence in the car wasn't heavy anymore as they were both already anticipating the end of the wedding.

'_Shall I tell Akira about my meeting with his father yesterday?'_ Sasha wondered but then she decided to stay quiet. _'Better not. It might make him question his father and I don't want them to have an argument over such trivial matter.'_ Sasha secretly looked at Akira and smiled. He was concentrating on the road and she quietly admired his features. When she realized that the car has already stopped and Akira is looking at her, her face became red in an instant and she quickly turned her face away.

Akira just smiled seeing her reaction. He would want to talk with Sasha right here and now but unfortunately this wasn't the right time and place for it. He sighed and then he heard an urgent knock on the car window and saw Soujirou nervously stepping outside.

Both Sasha and Akira got off the car quickly and Sasha slightly trembled in the cold wind.

"What are you still doing HERE, Akira? You should be inside already! And where are the rings?" Soujirou almost shouted at his friend.

Akira just shook his head. Seeing Soujirou so flustered and nervous was really a worth experience. He's never seen him like this. '_It must be the love.'_ He thought as he smiled.

"Alright, alright, calm down, my friend, or you'll get a heart attack on your own wedding. The rings are safe in here." He tapped on his chest. He couldn't help but tease Soujirou. Then he offered his arm to Sasha and they hurried inside the building.

Once in the lobby, they were met with Rui and Tsukasa who were looking great in their expensive tuxedos. Sasha wondered whether she should leave the friends alone but Akira release his hold on her arm so she had to remain standing next to him when he started introducing her and his friends.

"Sasha, these are my friends Tsukasa and Rui that I told you about." Sasha smiled at the two men who were looking at her extremely curiously.

"Tsukasa, Rui, this is my… ehm… this is Sasha."

The sight of all present people turned to Akira whose face slightly reddened. Rui immediately smiled knowingly while Tsukasa arched his eyebrows confused.

"Who?"

"Ehm…" Akira didn't know how to reply. Before he could decide Sasha answered instead of him.

"Hello, I'm Sasha, Akira's and Yuki's friend. Nice to meet you." She said smiling.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Rui." The taller man smiled at Sasha. "Where did you meet Akira? You must definitely tell me." He made few steps towards her but Akira stood quickly in front of her, surprising Sasha, Rui and himself.

"Now it's not the best time for it. I'll tell you later." Akira quickly said and heard Sasha's soft chuckle behind his back. Rui just gave him a scrutinizing glance. '_You might think you can escape my questions, Akira. But sorry, that won't happen._' He thought with a secret smirk.

"Oy, Akira, your face is all red! Don't tell me you've got a fever! You can't, Hiroshi is also here and he can't get ill!" Tsukasa, as usual, didn't understand the situation at all. Both Rui and Soujirou just looked up to the sky. Sasha was glad to be hiding behind Akira because her face was also red. '_Oh my, I'm going to die from embarrassment.'_

"Come on, Tsukasa, let's check on the girls if they're ready for the wedding." Rui said taking Tsukasa by his arm and forcing him to walk away.

"Oy, Rui, I wanted to talk with Akira longer…" Tsukasa complained while being brought away by his friend.

When the duo disappeared behind the corner, Akira finally turned to Sasha.

"Well, I think I should be going now." He said noticing Soujirou's very impatient expression.

Sasha smiled. "Sure. I'm going to sit inside."

She walked several steps towards the venue but then she turned and waved at Akira shortly and he answered her waving back on his own. Soujirou just frowned and closed the distance between him and Akira.

"If you've finally finished saying goodbye to your love, could you turn your attention to MY wedding?" Soujirou said sarcastically while pulling stunned Akira towards his preparation room.

Once inside the room, Akira asked his friend. "Am I that obvious?"

Soujirou sighed and checked his attire in the mirror. "Well, you can't be MORE obvious. It's written all over your face." He turned to his friend and smiled seeing his suddenly depressed face.

"Why so sad? It's pretty good feeling to be in love. Look at me." Soujirou sat down next to Akira.

"Well, I don't know. I don't feel very well at this moment. I still don't know whether she likes me too or not." Akira admitted quietly.

Soujirou laughed shortly and tapped his friend's shoulder. "If that's what's troubling you then you don't have to worry. Sasha definitely loves you." Akira lifted his eyes in surprise.

"How do you know?"

"Because, my friend, it's also written all over her face." Soujirou dryly answered.

Akira's face lightened up like a sun coming from behind the cloud.

"Are you sure?" He regained some of his usual confidence.

"Yes. And now, could we FINALLY get to MY WEDDING?"

**oOo**

"Yuki? Are you ready?" Tsukushi asked as she slowly opened the door of the suite where Yuki was getting ready for the ceremony. She saw her standing in front of big mirror in her beautiful wedding gown, her black hair flowing down in big soft waves and making an amazing contrast to the snow-white colour of her dress. Her whole being was shining with happiness.

Yuki turned and smiled at her friend.

"Almost, Tsukushi."

"Woow, you look absolutely stunning. Soujirou won't be able to take his eyes of you today!"

"Well, I hope so!" Both girls laughed and went to sit down on a sofa next to a window.

"So, it's finally here. Your dream came true." Tsukushi said while getting hold of Yuki's restless hands.

"Yes."

"Are you nervous?"

"Yes. A lot."

"Don't worry, Soujirou won't change his mind in the last minute, because he knows very well that I would kill him if he did." Tsukushi made a threatening gesture with her right fist.

Yuki was grateful for Tsukushi's words. It helped her to relieve a bit of tension she felt the whole day. Suddenly she got very nervous and was having doubts. She didn't know whether she will really be able to fulfil all her duties as a wife of Nishikado Soujirou. Yuki sighed. The only assuring thing for her was the certainty of Soujirou's love for her and of course her love for him. '_It's not all that is needed for being a good wife but it's a good start.' _She thought as she smiled at Tsukushi.

"By the way, where's Hiroshi and Tsukasa?" Yuki asked.

"Hiroshi is outside with his nanny waiting for me and Tsukasa is with Rui downstairs." Tsukushi answered and Yuki nodded.

They talked for several more minutes while still checking the remaining time. Just when Tsukushi was helping Yuki with putting a headband with veil into her hair, they've heard a noise from outside and then knocking on the door.

"Come in." Tsukushi called and smiled at Rui who entered the room.

"Ah, Yuki, you look really gorgeous. I almost envy Soujirou." Rui complimented Yuki and she blushed lightly.

"Thank you."

"Of course, she looks great, it's her wedding day." Tsukushi said. "Why are you here, Rui? Did anything happen? It's not time for us to go down yet."

"Well, we met Akira and his new girlfriend downstairs and I thought it might be better to take Tsukasa here rather than staying there." Rui answered and both girls watched him confused.

"New girlfriend?" They both asked.

"Yes… Sasha was her name?" Yuki's and Tsukushi's faces lightened up with the understanding.

"But I thought Sasha is only Akira's friend." Tsukushi said still little confused.

"Well, that's what she also said." Rui replied noticing that Yuki seemed to be thinking more about it than Tsukushi who was satisfied with his explanation.

"Do you girls know her?" He asked.

"I met her in Sapporo." Yuki answered. "By the way, Rui, where is Tsukasa?" She continued before Rui could ask more.

"Yes, where is my baka-husband?"

"Makino! Who are you calling baka?" Tsukasa appeared in the door with his son in his arms.

"You, who else! And don't shout at me while holding my baby! He'll be deaf because of your loud voice!" Tsukushi was equally loud as her husband but it didn't seemed to bother neither her nor the small boy who was peacefully sleeping in his father's arms.

"Your baby? Hiroshi is also MY baby!"

"Yes, unfortunately it's true." Tsukushi looked at Rui and Yuki rolling her eyes upwards hiding her chuckle from her husband, making her friends giggle and further upsetting Tsukasa who couldn't do anything while holding the baby.

"Makino! How do you mean it "unfortunately"?" Tsukasa was suddenly looking like a small lost boy and Tsukushi finally took mercy on him. She softly touched her husband's cheek and then took the baby from his arms.

"It was just a joke, Tsukasa. Let's go. Rui, you too. Let's give Yuki the last minute alone before it all starts."

With the last smile they all went out of the room. Yuki smiled at the closed door. She was really happy to have such friends. Now she couldn't wait to see Soujirou.

"Yosh, I'm ready." She told her own reflection in the mirror. Picking up her dress she walked to the door.


	16. Chapter 15, part 2

Hello, everyone,

Here's the promised second half. I hope you'll like it. :-)

Enjoy.

**Chapter 15, part 2**

Soujirou was nervously stepping in front of the altar waiting for the ceremony to begin. When the music finally started to play he breathed in deeply and turned his attention to the entrance of the room where Yuki and her father appeared. The air got caught up in his lungs when he saw his wife-to-be. '_She's just so… so beautiful.' _He started to smile wanting to rush up the speed of her walk towards him and make her his now and forever.

When Yuki saw Soujirou standing at the end of the aisle, the rest of the hall with all the guests disappear and her heart filled with an endless love. He looked absolutely stunningly in his black tuxedo and it never ceased to amaze her how a man can be so mesmerizing. She blushed and was glad that the veil covered her red face.

They finally reached Soujirou and Yuki's father gave her hand to him. Soujirou's hold was very firm and warm as he never wanted to let go. They both turned to the priest and the ceremony began.

Akira was standing next to Soujirou, enjoying the wedding but he couldn't help but search for Sasha with his eyes. He asked her to sit closer to him before the ceremony began but she just smiled and told him that she was alright and that he should enjoy the venue with his long-life friends without worrying about her. He wanted to protest but he didn't have time to do so because Yuki already appeared in the hallway. He sighed quietly. _'I really want to introduce Sasha as my girlfriend and have her as close to me as possible… I guess I'm getting too impatient.'_ He forcefully turned his attention back to the wedding as Soujirou asked to hand him the rings.

Sasha was sitting at the end of the third row of seats, right next to the aisle, watching the ceremony and smiling. _'Yuki is really beautiful today. She's shining with love and happiness so much that she's brighter than the sun.' _She thought. Then she looked at Akira and sighed. Although she came with him she didn't want to stand out too much today and make people to have strange assumptions. True, she and Yuki were friends but they didn't know each other for long and if both Akira and Yuki didn't insist, Sasha wouldn't even think about attending the wedding feast. Also the grandness of the wedding itself made her realized that these people are really rich. It made her think whether she should be here because it obviously wasn't her 'world' and it was one of the reasons why she insisted on sitting further. But then she saw Akira looking at her and she just had to smile, feeling all her anxiety quickly disappearing. '_Well, it doesn't matter whether 'I 'should' be here or not as long as I 'want' to be here.'_ She gave Akira her warmest smile.

**oOo**

When the ceremony ended and Soujirou and Yuki shared their first, very looong marital kiss, all the guests moved to the big ballroom hall right next to the ceremony hall. The place was also spectacularly decorated and prepared for the enormous company, there were round tables each for five people fully set with beautiful chinaware and cutlery and also each place had its name tag for each person. The main couple had a separated long table in front of all other tables so that everyone could see them.

Sasha stood in the entrance for a moment, uncertain where to start looking for her seat when she heard voice behind her and firm arm surrounded lightly her waist.

"Looking for a place?" Sasha lifted her head and smiled at Akira. She nodded and they started to walk towards their table with Akira leading the way. Sasha felt a bit uneasy as she had a feeling that all the people in the hall are looking at them but Akira didn't give her much time to worry about that.

"Did you enjoy the ceremony?" He asked.

"Yes. It was really beautiful. Yuki looked like a princess and Soujirou also seemed like a real prince. They really look great together and their love for each other was clearly visible." Sasha answered smiling. She stopped herself before adding that Akira standing in front of the altar looked also like a prince in her eyes.

They reached their table where Rui, Tsukushi and Tsukasa were already sitting. Sasha greeted Tsukushi and sat down on a chair that Akira held for her. Only after that he realized he has a problem. He let Sasha sit down right next to Rui.

Rui noticed his friend's troubled expression and chuckled secretly. It was worth it to exchange the name tags just to see Akira's face at this moment. Anyway, he wasn't going to let his friend to get away. He's going to find out what's between Akira and this girl, Sasha. '_I just need to wait for the perfect moment.'_

Akira hesitated for another second before he also sat down. By his left hand was sitting Tsukushi while Sasha was by his right side. _'I must keep Sasha engaged in conversation and not give Rui a chance to ask too much.'_

At that moment Yuki and Soujirou entered the room and all the looks of present guests turned to them. They were still in their wedding dresses and if it was possible, Yuki was shining even more than during the ceremony. They were welcomed by warm applause of all the guests as they walked towards their table. They sat down and Yuki noticed a big pile of envelopes at the small table close to the one they were sitting at. It took her a moment to realize these are the Shugi Bukuro (wedding money gift envelope) given by the guests. She looked around to see where her friends and family are, smiling at them, as Soujirou took the microphone and greeted everyone at their wedding reception.

Soon the microphone went around the place as many people wanted to congratulate the newlyweds. Sasha watched this with interest as it was completely different from the weddings in her country. When Akira told her that the priest wasn't a real one she was quite surprised. It made her wonder why Japanese would do something according to a religion they don't believe in but then she decided to wave it off as one of this country's speciality.

After the countless speeches ended, the meal was finally served. The conversation partly quieted down as everyone was enjoying the delicious food which was an interesting mixture of western and Japanese cuisine.

All this time Akira was carefully paying attention to everything Rui was saying but his friend had no intension of asking right now. He was patiently waiting and smiling under his nose, enjoying the situation and view of nervous Akira. Every time he leaned towards Sasha with a question he could see how Akira stiffened and quickly asked Sasha some silly question himself.

The reception went on and Yuki and Soujirou changed their dresses. Yuki into a beautiful colourful kimono and Soujirou into a black one and they walked around the room, stopping at each table and chatting with guests, smiling, thanking each one of them for visiting their wedding.

When they finally reached the table with their friends, Yuki seemed to be pretty exhausted as well as Soujirou. They gladly accepted two offered chairs and sat down.

"Finally, I can sit down." Yuki sighed resting her tired feet. Soujirou smiled and patted his wife's hand.

"We still have the evening venue to attend, darling." Yuki just sighed again making their friends laugh.

"Yeah, you definitely must come to my club. Don't forget that tonight is not just your first wedding night but also the last night of this year." Akira winked at Soujirou making Yuki blush profoundly.

"Akira, stop making fun of my wife or I'll tell everyone your biggest secret." Soujirou warned his friend half-seriously. Akira quickly covered his friend's mouth and his cheeks slightly reddened.

"Alright, alright, I'll be good." He admitted defeat.

They all chatted for some time before Yuki and Soujirou had to return to continue with their duties.

**oOo**

The wedding reception officially ended at six thirty and older guests slowly left the hotel while the younger ones continued in Akira's bar.

With Tsukushi and Tsukasa excused because of Hiroshi, Akira, Sasha, Rui and Yuki with Soujirou, both in casual dresses now, sat around a big table in a comfortable distance from the dancing floor and the bar, partly hidden from the crowd inside but still close enough to everything happening in the club.

The tension from the whole wedding left them and they all could finally enjoy the lively atmosphere of the evening. They were dancing, drinking wine, chatting and laughing. Some time around ten o'clock, Soujirou whispered into Akira's and Rui's ears and both men smiled knowingly. They nodded and Soujirou went for Yuki who was currently coming back from the restroom with Sasha. She looked at him questioningly and then blushing when he told her they're leaving. They bid their farewells and left Akira, Sasha and Rui alone.

Akira, who already forgot that he wanted to keep an eye on Rui, left the two alone and went to prepare a small surprise for Sasha.

Rui's eyes twinkled and he chuckled. '_Now.'_

"So, Sasha, where did you meet with Akira?" Rui started and turned to the girl sitting opposite to him.

"Hm?" Sasha looked at the so far pretty quiet man. "Aahh… Where we met? Well, actually, we met here." She smiled widely.

Rui lifted his right eyebrow. "Here? When?"

"Two and a half months ago." Sasha giggled remembering her first encounter with Akira. _'It seems more like years than just few months.' _She thought. Thinking back, she felt like she really knew Akira for much longer.

Rui, noticing her suddenly dreamy look, found this change interesting and continued with his questions.

"Really? You know, Sasha, I'm quite surprised that you and Akira became such good friends because, no offence, but you're not exactly the type of girl Akira likes."

Sasha busted out laughing. "I know." She said to astonished Rui and she leaned closer to him. "But I'll tell you a secret." She waited for Rui to move a bit closer. "He's not my usual type either."

Her answer made Rui completely stunned and it took him several seconds to recover.

"Well, that's a bit surprising." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, even though you're not his usual type, I think that Akira doesn't think about you as a mere friend." Rui looked at Sasha with serious eyes.

Sasha looked back at him and smiled. "You're second person telling me this in two days."

Her answer stirred up Rui's curiosity. "And who was the first one?"

"Akira's father." Sasha shut her mouth immediately but the words already slipped away. _'Damn wine. Making me tell what I don't want to.'_

"What?"

"Please, don't tell Akira. He doesn't know." Sasha looked pleadingly at Rui.

The man didn't expect such answer and he remained quiet for a long time, trying to organize his thoughts.

"So, have you met Akira's father already?" Sasha just shrugged. Rui looked at her with new respect.

"And you're still alive? Unbelievable!" Before Sasha could say anything, Rui continued. "So what did he say? Did he offer you money? Or does he want you to leave the country?"

Sasha just watched Rui with confused look on her face as he was casting one question after the other. '_Looking back, maybe I really DID underestimate the importance and influence of Yakuza…' _ She thought suddenly feeling goose bumps on her back.

"Well, yeah." She started when Rui stopped asking and just looked at her waiting for her reply. "But we came to an agreement in the end."

"What agreement?" Rui asked but at that moment Sasha spotted returning Akira and cut herself shaking her head.

"Are you two having fun?" Akira asked when he reached the table. Sasha smiled at him awkwardly and just nodded. She was expecting him to sit down next to her but Akira just smiled meaningfully.

Suddenly the illumination in the club changed into more intimate and the D.J. made a short announcement.

Sasha didn't hear him clearly but then music started to play and she smiled. She liked old songs and 'Unforgettable' was one of her favourites. It was an odd song for this disco dancing bar and seeing Akira's contented countenance she knew it was him who ordered it.

Akira noticed her expression and his eyes filled with tenderness. Sometimes it was really great to be able to pull the strings. He offered his hand to Sasha who watched it with surprise.

"May I ask you for a dance?" Akira asked and Sasha just nodded, took his hand and let him walk her to the dance floor. He then gently put his arms around her waist and they started to dance slowly.

Sasha soon closed her eyes and breathed in Akira's scent resisting the urge to lean her head on his shoulder. She wished for the dance to last forever. _'This is heaven.'_ Her heart was filled as her mind was completely empty. The words described her feelings and thoughts so precisely that she could only be amazed by it. She would be even more amazed if she knew that hers and Akira's feelings are in complete consonance.

Akira was watching Sasha's closed eyes and tried not to think about kissing her lips. He sighed quietly but Sasha heard him and opened her eyes. She looked at him with question in her eyes but seeing his expression every word she might ask disappear from her mind. Suddenly she found out that she's strangely out of breath while it's hard to breathe in.

They stopped dancing but fortunately the music also ended so it didn't look strange. They remained standing on the spot until Akira cleared his throat.

"I think now is the right time for our talk. Let's go." He said in low voice and took Sasha's hand leading her away from the dance floor.

He took her to his private room at the higher floor. They walked in and Akira turned on one of the lights so the room was only partly lighted and closed the door. He stood there with a hand on the knob for a second, suddenly nervous and uncertain how to start.

He turned to Sasha and saw her standing about two metres away from him with her head bowed down. She was folding her hands and her face flustered. At that moment he decided that action speaks louder than words and walked to her.

"Sasha." He said gently when he reached her. She lifted her head to look at him and without giving her time to think, he kissed her. At the same time he closed his arms around her to make sure she won't run away.

Sasha's eyes widened in surprise but she soon closed them and put her hands around Akira's neck returning the kiss.

When their embrace finally loosened, Akira watched dearly how Sasha's face became even redder and he couldn't help but smile. _'She looks like a high school girl after her first kiss.'_ He thought. He chuckled when she quickly dropped her head down hiding her face.

"Sasha?" Akira asked but Sasha didn't want to lift her head. The shy hope mixed with happiness and caution almost made her heart burst. She still couldn't believe that Akira really kissed her and was far too much afraid to believe it really meant what she hoped for so much.

"Won't you look at me?" He asked gently but she just shook her head.

Akira sighed lightly. Then his head found Sasha's chin and he lifted her face to him. Sasha quickly closed her eyes trying to hide the embarrassment she was feeling.

"If you don't open your eyes then I'll kiss you again." This statement made her open them in an instant.

"Good." Akira smiled although he felt a slight disappointment she listened to him. _'Never mind. I'll kiss her later anyway.' _All of his anxiety left and his confidence finally returned when he saw Sasha's face which assured him of her feelings towards him.

"Would you like to go out with me?" He asked with serious face and made Sasha blush even more with his stern eyes.

She slowly smiled and nodded. "Yes."

Akira tightened his embrace placing Sasha's head on his shoulder. "Thanks God." He whispered.

They remained like that for a long time before Sasha lifted her head and gave Akira a light peck on his lips. They smiled at each other and Akira finally released his hold. He took Sasha's hand and they sat down on a sofa standing next to the wall opposite the door.

"Can I ask you something?" Sasha started and looked at their joined hands.

"Sure."

"Why did you say 'thanks God'? Did you expect me to refuse?" She lifted her eyes and looked at Akira curiously. He blushed not wanting to disclose his uncertainty. He just cleared his throat and turned his eyes away pretending to look down to the dance floor through the one glass wall of the room.

"I wouldn't do that." Sasha didn't want to torture her new boyfriend. She rested against the sofa again leaning her head on Akira's shoulder. With a small sigh she closed her eyes. Feeling so complete and happy she could die here at this moment.

Akira looked at her and smiled. He kissed her hand that he was still holding and also closed his eyes enjoying the beautiful moment.


	17. Chapter 16

Hello, my dear readers,

The time surely flies and it's February already :-) I've been busy as usual but I decided to update at least once a month and not let you wait so down there you'll find another chapter :-)

I hope you'll like it :-)

To my usual answers :-)

To Matsujun lover:

Yep, they're together FINALLY! :D I'm really happy you liked the wedding and confession because I was pretty unsure whether it's good.

We still have several chapters ahead of us so I hope you'll like the continuation as well :-)

Ok, so I'll be patiently waiting until you'll have time to continue writing :-)

For now enjoy the next chapter :-)

**Chapter 16**

"We should return to Rui." Sasha said after about ten minutes she and Akira spent quietly in each others arms on the sofa.

Akira sighed. "Yeah, I think we should." He unwillingly released Sasha from his hold and slowly stood up. At that moment he heard he received a text message. He took the phone from his pocket and started reading. He smiled. _'Akira, I'm going home. I saw you two dancing and judging from the way you two left and the long time without your return, everything worked out for you. Congratulations and I'll call you later for details. Happy New Year.'_

"Who was it?" Sasha asked as she also stood up.

"Rui."

"Is he angry we left him alone?" Sasha was feeling guilty.

"No. He just decided to go home so he wrote me he's leaving." Akira purposely formulated his answer that way because Rui's message made him a bit embarrassed. _'What kind of details he would like to hear?' _He turned to Sasha and took her by hand.

'Let's go down, it's going to be midnight soon."

"Okay." Sasha smiled at him. They left the quiet room and joined the vivid celebration of the last evening of the year downstairs.

**oOo**

Around one o'clock in the morning Sasha asked Akira to take her home. After all that happened, the wedding and confession, she was extremely tired, yawning and almost unable to keep her eyes opened because when the tension vanished after she and Akira finally cleared up their relationship she was left feeling weary and because of that she was really grateful that Akira didn't argue and just led her out of the bar to the fresh and cold air outside.

His driver was already waiting for them and as soon as they were seated at the backseats he drove the car through the night streets of Tokyo.

The way to Sasha's house was never this short as the car stopped way too early in front of her apartment house. She unwillingly lifted her head and sighed. Looking at Akira's face told her that he shares her feelings as he didn't seem to be releasing his hold at all and just kept his arms firmly around her.

"Young master, we have arrived." The driver discreetly announced.

Akira sighed and finally released Sasha from his embrace. Sasha felt a sudden wave of cold when Akira's warm touch disappeared.

They both slowly got off the car and stopped in front of the entrance of the house.

"I… think I should go in." Sasha said hesitatingly but she didn't move a single bit.

"Yeah…." Akira also didn't make any movement back to his car, right the opposite. He took two steps forward and held Sasha in his arms again. This time he didn't have to tell to lift up her head as she did it immediately when she sensed his touch.

When the kiss finally ended, they both reluctantly let their arms fall only to hold hands immediately. None of them yet ready to break the physical contact.

"I'll call you after the lunch, okay?" Akira said finally regaining a bit of his reasonable mind.

Sasha nodded and smiled widely at him. "Sure. I'll be waiting."

He slowly walked backwards still holding Sasha's until he finally had to let go.

Sasha waited until Akira was again sitting in the car and waved at him as long as she could see him. Then she slowly turned and went into the house.

When she closed the door of her flat she slid down to the floor. She was widely smiling and covering her face with hands trying to suppress the shout of joy and happiness that threatened burst out.

She quickly stood up, threw off her shoes and ran to her bedroom where she fell on the bed, kicking it and weeping with joy and overexcitement. _'I can't believe it! Akira likes me. He likes me! He loves me!'_

She finally lost her energy and just laying down on her back looking at the ceiling she breathed heavily. _'This is the best new year EVER!'_

**oOo**

Akira walked into the dining room and was surprised to see his dad still sitting behind the table reading the newspapers. It was already past ten and his dad was usually up at eight.

"Good morning." He greeted him. Mr. Mimasaka just dropped the newspapers for a moment and then started to read again.

"'Morning."

Akira sat down at his usual place on the right side from his father, right next to him. The maid poured him a coffee and placed his food in front of him. He needn't to tell her what he wants because it was her duty to know it.

"So how was the wedding?" Akira's father finally dropped the papers and looked at his son. Akira quickly swallowed.

"It was good. Soujirou was very nervous, Yuki very beautiful, Rui very calm and Tsukasa and Tsukushi very bickering, as usual." He smiled. He purposely left out Sasha as he didn't want his father to know about her yet.

Mr. Mimasaka smiled secretly. He could read his son's expressions very well. _'If you only knew, my son.'_ He solemnized again and cleared his throat.

"Is that so? So I suppose you enjoyed the event to your heart's content."

Akira's smile was telling everything. Even Mr. Mimasaka was surprised to see such loving expression on his son's face. _'Oh, I see. Something changed between him and Sasha… Well, it's the best time for us two to talk.'_

Akira caught himself before he blurts out some stupid things and he tried to cover his nervousness.

"And what about your evening? Did you enjoy your programme?"

His father just snorted. "As you know, my dear son, I spent the last day of the year with your dear mother so it was as unforgettable as every year." He said dryly making Akira laugh shortly and continued after a short moment.

"By the way, Akira, I need to talk to you so please, come to my workroom when you finish your breakfast."

With that he stood up and left confused Akira sitting behind the table, wondering what might be so important his father wants to discuss.

**oOo**

"So I'm here." Akira said when he joined his father in his workroom closing the door behind him.

"Good. Sit down." His father answered from behind his desk. He waited for Akira to sit down in front of him before he lifted his eyes. He could see his son was curiously waiting for what he was about to say.

"I have two things that I want to discuss and I expect you to agree on both of them." Akira's father started.

'_This doesn't sound very well.'_ Akira thought but continued being silent. He knew that he must wait for his father to finish his speech before he'll be allowed to ask so he just nodded.

"I've heard you have a new friend." It was like dropping a bomb into Akira's lap. He edged nervously.

"I have many friends."

"A female friend." Akira's father calmly added.

"You've never taken interest in my friends before so why now?" Akira decided to act as if it was nothing extraordinary.

"Because this one seems to be different than your usual female friends or lovers." Akira's father smirked knowingly and looked at his son fidgeting in his seat, amused by the sight. _'This is the first time he's so out of his calm demeanour since he was eight.'_

"How do you mean it, different? Did you, by any chance, meet her?" Akira was trying not to sound horrified. His worst fear proved to be true when his father smiled.

"Yes, I did and I must say that she's an interesting young lady." He let Akira to fry in his sweat for little bit more.

"When? And what did you two talk about?" Akira couldn't suppress the anxiety and rising threat in his voice.

"I'm not obligated to answer you." Mr. Mimasaka said further increasing Akira's determination to know the truth. He was quite pleased with the knowledge that Sasha didn't say a word about their meeting to his son. It elevated her in his eyes even more.

'_Well, if he's not going to tell me then I'll ask Sasha directly. Why didn't she tell me anything about it?' _Akira thought while still piercing his father with his eyes.

"Anyway, this brings me to the second problem I wanted to discuss." Akira's father continued. "Our branch in Shanghai is in an urgent need of help so I'm sending you there to find out the situation and help them to get back on track."

Akira tried hard to take in all the sudden information he was getting. Then he managed to ask.

"When do you want me to leave? And for how long?" He tried not to sound desperate.

"Well… As soon as possible and for as long as it is needed. I suppose it will take you about 6 months."

His answer buried Akira like an avalanche. Then he suddenly rose up in his chair. He finally understood what his father meant by mentioning that Sasha and the business in Shanghai are connected with each other. His temper rose quickly and he had hard time suppressing it.

"And what do you plan to do with Sasha while I'm away?" He said seemingly calm but he didn't even try to hide the threat in his question.

His tone made his father lift an eyebrow.

"I don't plan to do anything." Mr. Mimasaka answered but Akira didn't believe him.

"Then why did you meet with her and why are you sending me away so suddenly?"

"As I said, I'm not obligated to answer you but I met with Ms. Novak because I wanted to know what kind of person she is and I'm sending you away because I need you to take care of business." Mr. Mimasaka paused for a moment. "I also want to see how serious your relationship with this girl is. I must say that she made quite an impression on me and that's why I'm giving you this chance to prove that it is worth to give my consent."

Akira was quite surprised his father was so opened about his reasons. It somehow calmed him down but not entirely.

"So, you say that by sending me away you give me chance to prove our love? Isn't it right the opposite?"

His father just smiled. He expected such answer. "I don't think so. I could easily get rid of that girl without you ever finding out. BUT, if you heed to my condition I won't stop you from meeting her anytime you want. As long as you do your work properly."

"So you say that you'll let us date and if I go to Shanghai and work there for six months, you won't meddle in our relationship even if I would want to marry her?" Akira wanted to be hundred percent sure because this seemed to be too easy. Not that he was thinking as far as the marriage but who knows what the future might bring.

"Let's say that for now you're on probation."

This answer didn't satisfy Akira but he couldn't further argue because the look in his father's eyes was clearly telling him not to dare trying.

"I understand… Am I allowed to visit home once in awhile or do I have to stay in Shanghai till the probation period is over?"

"Of course you can come home. Your mother wouldn't talk to me if I didn't let you." Akira almost snorted. It was kind of funny hearing this from a man who could easily order to kill without blinking an eye and here he was, afraid of his own wife.

"If you don't have any other questions then you can go."

Akira DID have another questions but he was clearly dismissed so he just silently stood up and left the room.

Once outside, he sighed heavily. _'And here I thought that after yesterday my life would be a rose garden full of happiness.'_

He straightened up. He may be almost on his way to Shanghai but before that he's going to meet certain lady and she's going to explain to him why she for all gods didn't mention anything about meeting his father!

**oOo**

Sasha woke up around ten o'clock as well but decided to stay lying for awhile, enjoying the sunny morning and free day. She stretched her arms wide and smiled to the ceiling. Her first thought belonged to Akira and to previous evening. Her smile slowly disappeared when she remembered her discussion with Akira's father and her promise to talk things over when she and Akira become something more than just friends. _'Who would have thought it would happen so quickly?'_ She thought and sighed. _'Well, I can enjoy this a little bit longer before calling Mr. Mimasaka, right?'_

She got up and after refreshing herself she went to prepare a lunch. All the time she was checking her phone waiting for Akira's call. Her anxiety was rising with the passed time and she was getting both nervous and worried. Lost in her thoughts she heard a doorbell and couldn't help but wonder who that might be.

Sasha's face brightened like sun when she saw Akira standing behind the door. The moment he saw her he smiled and Sasha's knees got weak.

"Hi." Akira only managed to say forgetting momentarily the main reason he came.

"Hi." Sasha replied with wide smile, blushing and biting her lower lip. "Won't you come in?" She asked when Akira didn't make a single move and just watched her.

"Sure." He answered and finally entered her little hallway. He let her close the door and when she turned he hugged her and kissed her.

They stood in the hallway for quite some time before they were both out of breath. Sasha smiled at Akira and finally released herself from his embrace.

"Let's go to the living room. It's a bit chilly here." Akira just chuckled and let Sasha take his hand and lead him.

He sat down on the couch, watching Sasha moving around the kitchen preparing hot tea for them. His thoughts turned back to his talk with father and he sighed quietly. He didn't want to leave Japan now that he finally found Sasha. She was like a beam of sun in his dark world he didn't knew he lived in until she came. He smiled lightly. _'I guess my days of being playboy are already counted.'_

Sasha finished the tea and turned back to Akira holding a plate with kettle and two tea cups. She stumbled momentarily at the daring look in Akira's eyes. Her heart skipped the beat and she the air got caught up in her chest. She felt the blood rushing into her cheeks. _'I should stop blushing all the time like teenager... But it's just so… Aaaahhh…' _It was no use trying to calm down, she was head over heels in love with this man. She smiled at him, walked to the couch and placed the tray on the table in front of it. Then she sat down next to him and poured them the tea.

"So, what brings you here? I thought you would spend this day with your family and just call me when you wake up." Sasha looked at Akira questioningly.

"Well, I had an interesting discussion with my father so I decided that it would be better to see you personally than just talk it over the phone." Akira replied giving her a meaningful look.

Sasha's eyebrows wrinkled. She didn't know what he meant by the statement. Seeing her reaction, Akira asked her directly.

"Why didn't you tell me that you have met with my father?" Sasha's eyes widened from pure shock.

"He told you?" She asked still in amazement, not comprehending why Mr. Mimasaka would do so when they reached an agreement.

"Yes, he did. And I want to know why YOU didn't tell me a single word." Akira said looking searchingly at Sasha.

She smiled nervously and averted her eyes. "Well, it was nothing worth of mentioning so…" She said hesitatingly pausing after each word and stopping when she saw Akira's doubtful and annoyed expression.

"Not worth mentioning? Meeting with the most powerful yakuza boss in whole Asia is not worth mentioning?" Akira's voice rose up. His statement left Sasha eyes-wide and gasping for air.

"W-What? The most powerful… what?" She blurted out after a moment.

Seeing her surprised face Akira softened down. He didn't realize that Sasha can't know his family's or his father's reputation. She wasn't in Japan long enough to do so nor was she the type of person interested in such things. It was one of the things he liked about her. She didn't judge people simply by their status but mainly by their personality and behaviour.

"That's not important now. What did you two talk about? Did my father offer you something for leaving me?" Sasha's face answered his question even before she voiced it up.

"How do you know? Is this some kind of custom in Japan? Offering something for leaving a guy?" She just couldn't help but wonder how Akira could guess right on first try.

Akira thought about it for a second and then he laughed. "Well, I think it's a custom of rich families." He said dryly. "But you didn't answer my question. I want to know what you talked about with my father."

Sasha studied Akira's face for a moment and seeing that he won't let her slip away, she sighed.

"Well… He invited me for a tea… And we talked about work, my hobbies, you…" Sasha quieted down when Akira leaned closer to her making her almost lying on her back.

"Sasha…" He said darkly placing his hands around her so she couldn't move away.

"Alright, alright." She said placing her hands on his chest to make herself a bit space for breathing.

"Yes, he did offer me money and before you ask, I refused." Akira straightened up as well as Sasha. "He was actually very polite and nice." She added to Akira's utmost surprise.

'_Nice? Polite? MY FATHER?__?'_ Akira had a feeling they are both talking about different man.

"And he just accepted your refusal?" He just couldn't help but ask.

Sasha just shrugged and nodded. Akira just shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, we agreed on one condition." Sasha added slowly.

"What condition?"

"You know, I met your father before we… before yesterday, so I told him we're just friends and if this ever changes that we can have the discussion again…" She was watching Akira with pleading eyes.

Akira just watched her and sighed. His father was truly a mastermind. "Well, I don't think you need to see him again, he already solved the problem."

"Solved the problem? How do you mean it?" Sasha didn't understand. Akira reached out and held her hand.

"I need to go to Shanghai."

"Shanghai? Why?"

Akira sighed. "One of the reasons is business. Our branch there has bad results and father wants me to improve it." He paused for a moment. "The other one is our relationship."

"You mean like, out of sight, out of mind?" Sasha asked. If that was supposed to be Mr. Mimasaka's plan then she wasn't impressed at all. "This is not gonna work with me." She said plainly. Then she blushed when she saw Akira's pleasant smile.

"Neither with me." Akira answered making her blush even more.

"And how long will you be away?" Sasha asked already sad from the thought of him being gone.

"It seems about six months. But don't worry," He quickly added when Sasha got horrified. "I'll come back to Tokyo at least once a month." He caressed Sasha's face to calm her down and smiled assuring when she lifted her resigned sight to him. She smiled briefly.

"You must bring me a souvenir." She said still pouting her lips but already accepting this sudden separation. Akira laughed and gave her a quick peck on lips.

"Sure, I will." They smiled at each other.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Akira left on Sunday and Sasha was of course at the airport to bid him her goodbye. It was difficult for both of them and Sasha couldn't suppress tears from appearing in her eyes. She waved at him until he disappeared in the corridor behind the check-in desk of VIP guests that led to the airplane.

She slowly went back to the train station wondering how she will survive until they see each other again. The thought made her smile because it wasn't long ago when she had absolutely no problem and was content with being alone. _'I guess I can't go back to my empty bubble once I'm outside.'_

Fortunately for her, she got assigned a new project on Monday morning that she needed to start working on right away so she didn't have much time to be lonely. For the next week and half she literally buried herself in the piles of papers, running around the Authorities and ensuring necessary data.

The only peaceful moment of her day was a phone call from Akira. They used to chat for an hour every evening, telling each other their daily program and sighing while counting days till they can meet.

On Friday noon, almost two weeks after Akira's departure, Sasha finally had some more free time so she decided to go home early and sleep her two weeks portion during the upcoming weekend. Just when she was imagining her bed, Natsuko rushed to her table.

"Hey, Sasha, guess what? We have a new colleague!" She was almost ecstatic.

"A new colleague?" Sasha asked just out of politeness. Fortunately Natsuko didn't notice it.

"YES! And guess what? He's a foreigner!" Sasha just smirked wondering ironically why Natsuko even start with 'guess what' when she answers her own question immediately.

"Alright. I suppose it's good news. Less work for us all, right?"

Natsuko just looked at her indignantly. "Is work the only thing you ever think about?"

Sasha just shrugged. She had absolutely no intension on disclosing to her friend that she's already taken. Natsuko continued with her wild imaginations.

"Miki from the reception told me that he's from Denmark and that he's super handsome. I haven't seen him yet but I'm sure he has blue eyes, blond hair and he's at least 1,90metre tall."

Sasha had to laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. She coughed to hide her smile.

"Uhm, Natsuko, don't you have a boyfriend already?" Her question made the other girl to stop in her track.

"Oh… You're right. Damn." For a moment she seemed really depressed. Then she looked at smiling Sasha and added mischievously.

"But I can admire a handsome man even if I'm taken, right? It's no harm."

Sasha laughed and nodded. "You're absolutely right."

Soon their boss arrived with a man that was indeed tall and handsome. He did have blond hair and blue eyes although he wasn't as tall as Natsuko wished for. But he seemed to be very friendly and nice, smiling lightly all the time.

Sasha was partly curious about his reaction when he sees another foreigner and she was pleasantly surprised when he greeted her not just in Japanese but also in English. She was happy to answer him in the same manner for which she earned jealous looks from the rest of her female colleagues.

After a short battle between girls who will show Axel, as the man was called, around their office, the winner and the man went on their tour while the rest of the office returned to their places.

Sasha forgot about the new man in their office the moment she sat down behind her desk counting the time remaining till the end of her working hours.

Unfortunately for her, everyone in the office decided that it is absolutely necessary they make welcome party for Axel and that participation is compulsory. She almost cried out in despair but still had no other option then to follow them.

She laughed shortly when they arrived to no other place than to Akira's bar. _'This can't be a pure coincidence. Why do I always end up in here? Perhaps something from my previous life leads me here every time…'_ She walked in still deep in thoughts.

The girls from the office were all over Axel who almost didn't even have a space to breathe but he still remained calm and nice. He excused himself to the toilet after some time and the girls just sighed in disappointment. They waited and when he didn't returned within five minutes they slowly went to find another victim of their affection on the dance floor.

Sasha remained seated alone, drinking juice she ordered despite disapproving looks from others. She was really tired and the alcohol would send her to the dreamland right away. She shrieked when she's heard a quiet voice behind her.

"Are they gone?"

Sasha quickly turned and saw Axel looking around cautiously.

"You mean girls? Yeah, they went dancing." She answered and watched him as he sighed in relief and sat next to her. She chuckled. _'So he wasn't that comfortable with all the attention.'_

"Great, finally a moment of peace." He relaxed in his seat.

Sasha laughed amusingly at his statement and he turned to her also chuckling.

"Don't tell me you don't like girls' admiring."

Axel straighten up from his loosen position. "I do. But not when it's twenty on one."

"Ok, I get it." Sasha smiled and closed up this topic. They both subconsciously started to talk in English.

"But I must say, it's nice to see someone from the same continent." Sasha said earning an understanding look from Axel.

"I know what you mean. I've been to China for about a year and I came here right away so I'm equally pleased."

"It's not that I don't like Asian faces it's just… Seeing you is like being closer to home." Sasha tried to rectify her statement.

Axel just nodded. "It's the same for me."

Sasha suddenly realized what Axel said. "You were in China? Where?" She asked eagerly.

"In Hong Kong, why?" He looked at her curiously, not really understanding why she looks so dejected all of sudden.

"Well, it's nothing. It's just that someone I know is in Shanghai."

"Someone?" Axel lifted his right eyebrow. "Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah." Sasha immediately realized what she said. "But please don't tell it to anyone, especially at work." She pleaded.

"Why? Is it a secret?" Now he was truly curious.

"Not exactly. But they," Sasha pointed towards the dance floor, "would eat me alive."

Axel nodded with sympathy. He had a very clear idea what would happen.

"So, your boyfriend works there?"

Sasha hesitated for a moment but perhaps because he was still quite unknown person to her or because he was European or because that except of Yuki she didn't really have anyone to talk to about her personal life, she found herself talking about Akira.

"Yes, he went to work there and he'll be there for at least six months."

"It must be hard for both of you."

"A kind of. We haven't been together for long so I really miss him a lot." Sasha admitted sincerely smiling sadly.

"And what does he do?" It was an understandable and easy question yet Sasha didn't know how to answer. She didn't want to disclose that she's in fact dating her boss.

"Well, this and that…"

"Ok, don't ask, I understand." Axel knew when to stop. "But I suppose you can at least tell me his name, hm?"

Sasha smiled nicely. She was glad that he didn't try to squeeze the answer from her.

"Sure, I can." She opened her mouth when she heard someone calling her name.

"Sasha?"

"Akira?" Her face lightened up like sun when she saw his standing just few metres from her. She jumped off her seat and rushed to him only to stop just few moments before she jumped around his neck.

"How come you're here? When did you arrive? Why didn't you call me? And how did you find me?" She showered Akira with questions. She at least touched his hand to assure herself that she's not dreaming.

Akira, who watched her conversation with the unknown man for several minutes, had to pull himself together a bit .He didn't hear what they were talking about but just seeing Sasha being so relaxed and smiling at the other man made his chest tighten and his heart hurt. He had to use all of his strength not to show it on the outside.

Then sudden pain he felt started to slowly subside because of Sasha's face that was radiant with love towards him and he managed to smile.

"I wanted to surprise you. I went to your home but you weren't there so I called your boss and he told me you're holding welcome party in here." He explained. He strengthened up his hold on Sasha's hand.

"I'm sooo happy you're here." Sasha's eyes started to be watery.

"Me too." Akira replied and then looked around. "Would you mind if we leave? I'm quite tired."

Sasha just nodded. "Sure. I'll just take my things." She released her hand from his grasp and ran to the sofa where she left Axel.

Axel who was watching the whole scene with big interest didn't miss the look in Akira's eyes. _'Oh my, he looks like he wants to kill me.'_

"Your boyfriend, I suppose." He said when Sasha reached the couch. She just smiled widely and nodded while picking up her bag and coat.

"Maybe I should go and introduce myself." _'And to show clearly I'm no threat.'_

Sasha just shook her head. "Next time. Akira's tired and so am I."

Axel just laughed meanifully earning a "you naughty!" look from Sasha.

She quickly said goodbye and rushed back to Akira who was already waiting for her. Axel just smiled seeing how Akira possessively placed his arm around Sasha's waist.

**oOo**

Once they were outside, Sasha surprised Akira by hugging him tightly around waist. She buried her head in his shoulder breathing in his scent while closing her eyes. Her expression turned to almost painful as she held him so tight that he almost couldn't breathe.

"Sasha, did anything happen?" Akira asked after the initial startle as he closed his arms around her.

Sasha just shook her head and mumbled. "I just missed you too much."

Her words raised a gentle smile on Akira's lips and he lifted her face. He rubbed off tears on her cheeks.

"I missed you too." He said making Sasha smile lightly. She sniffed and Akira couldn't resist anymore and kissed her. Sasha's eyes widened for a second before she closed them and raised her arms hugging Akira around his neck firmly.

They both felt the depth of their yearning for each other. When the kiss finally ended, they were left breathless and Sasha even forgot for a moment where she is, being only aware of Akira.

"We should really go. It's cold here and I definitely don't want you to get sick." Akira said and led Sasha to his car.

He initially thought about using a driver but when he boarded the plane in Shanghai, he changed his mind. He didn't want anyone else to disturb his time with Sasha. Of course, at that moment he had no idea that his evening would be far from what he had imagined it to be.

Akira smirked ironically. He was still feeling pretty annoyed and the more he thought about the cause that made him change his plans, the darker his mood became.

He drove the car smoothly through the town while Sasha sat next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder with closed eyes. She was smiling contently. Seeing her peaceful and happy face Akira sighed quietly and tried to suppress those uncomfortable feeings dwelling inside of him. _'I'm just being oversensitive. Sasha loves me and she would never cheat on me.' _He thought trying to persuade himself.

He stopped in front of Sasha's apartment and noticed that the girl fell asleep during the ride. For a moment he could let out his feelings as he was watching her sleeping countenance adoringly. He brushed a stray hair from her face and chuckled when she made a move to repel a nonexistent fly.

Sasha's face clouded and she slowly woke up. She opened her eyes and saw Akira's face dangerously close to hers. She blinked quickly several times. They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment until Akira once again leaned even closer and erased the distance between their lips.

When they finally parted, both out of breath, Akira sighed.

"We surely kiss in unusual places and times."

"How do you mean it?" Sasha asked not really understanding his words.

"Never mind. Let's get you home before you really catch a cold." Akira got off the car leaving Sasha with no other option than to follow him.

He waited for her to join him and with their hands joined he walked to the entrance of the house.

There they turned to face each other. Sasha breathed in deeply and mustered all of her courage.

"Won't you come in?" She bit her lower lip waiting for Akira's answer. She got very nervous and uncertain the moment she said it and she wanted to take it back immediately. _'I don't know if I'm already prepared to spend a night with him… But I missed him so much that the words just flew from my mouth… what to do now?' _The thoughts were jumbling in her mind as well as her heart just couldn't decide so she just stood there motionlessly.

Her invitation surprised Akira. Under different circumstances he would agree right away but the vision of Sasha with the unknown man was still too vivid in his mind. He smiled and made up an excuse.

"I'd love to but I promised mum that I would be at home in the morning to greet her."

Sasha's face fell a little and she found Akira's explanation a bit weird and illogical but she didn't push on him to change his mind.

"Ok. Maybe next time." She smiled. Part of her was grateful for Akira's refusal even though she felt pretty sad he's already leaving.

"By the way, Sasha, who was that young man you were talking to in the bar?" Akira finally asked the question that kept bothering him whole evening.

"That was Axel, our new colleague. The welcome party was for him." She answered honestly without noticing Akira's suddenly hardened jaw.

"I see. You two seemed to be pretty comfortable although you don't know each other for long."

Sasha noticed the sharp tone in Akira's voice but dismissed it as just her illusion.

"Well, he's also from Europe so it was like being closer to home when I talked to him."

Akira's mood went even lower after her answer. He checked his watch to cover up the deadly look he was sure he had.

"Wow, it's pretty late. You should really go in. I'll call you tomorrow and we'll meet for lunch, okay?" Akira abruptly ended their conversation managing to smile.

"Okay, good night." Sasha smiled sweetly at him and stood on her toes to kiss him for last time. Then she opened the glass door behind her and went in.

Akira watched until she disappeared around the corner and finally let the smile vanish from his face.

On his way home he decided what he needed to do with the situation. Little voice in his head told him it's not very good idea but he pushed it back and took out his phone. Some things can't wait for the morning.


	19. Chapter 18

Hello, my dear readers :-)

It's been reaaaaaally long time, right? :-)

I'm really sorry for not posting any chapter for such long time :-)

Anyway, I hope you'll like it al least as much as I am happy to finally finish it ;-)

Enjoy reading :-)

**Chapter 18**

Next day Akira arrived at Sasha's place just before noon. He behaved like he normally did and Sasha felt relieved. When she recalled the previous evening she felt that something was wrong with him even though he didn't say a word. But today the sweet and caring Akira was back and Sasha's heart throbbed with love.

He took her to a sushi restaurant because he knew Sasha loved it and after lunch they went for a walk in nearby Yoyogi Park and then continued to Harajuku.

Sasha marvelled at the bizarre creations the young people wore in this part of Tokyo although she knew that Harajuku is famous all over the world because of its unique fashion style.

Later Akira took her to Ginza for shopping and he had to sigh because Sasha didn't let him buy her anything she thought was overly expensive. It took all of his persuasive abilities to persuade her to let him give her at least one thing. Sasha agreed but to Akira's dismay she chose a book.

"From all the things I could buy you choose an ordinary book?" He asked when they were waiting in queue to pay. He turned the book in his hands and studied the back of it with sour face.

Sasha smiled seeing his expression. "But it's not just an ordinary book. I wanted to buy this for long time." She tried to explain.

"A history of Japanese Clans in Heian period?" He asked unbelievingly. Sasha laughed seeing his stunned face.

"Why is it so surprising for you? I told you I like Japanese culture and it includes history as well."

They finally reached the desk and Akira handed the book to young shop-assistant. The girl watched him curiously but didn't muster the courage to ask anything and just gave him his money and bill blushing. Akira took the exchange without noticing the girl at all. He was more than used to this kind of reaction. Sasha on the other hand saw everything and she secretly smiled. _'Poor girl. I understand her more than well.'_

She quickly followed Akira outside the bookshop and intertwined their hands.

"I must show that we belong together or some girl might try to steal you away from me." Sasha said coquettishly to Akira's surprise. It took him few seconds to understand but then he laughed shortly.

"Alright." He said and pulled Sasha closer to him placing his arm firmly around her shoulders. "Let's show the world we belong together." Sasha was startled at first but then she put her arm around Akira's waist.

"Yeah, let's do it." They smiled at each other.

The evening came too early and they had to separate because Akira was meant to return to Shanghai on Sunday early morning.

Sasha sent him off with sad eyes and heavy heart. Her only consolation was that Akira will come back in just two weeks and just before the Valentine's day.

**oOo**

During the next two weeks Sasha got herself busy with her work so that she wouldn't have to think about her growing longing for Akira. She also gladly found out that her impression of Axel from his welcome party was right and they became very good friends unbelievably fast which unfortunately resulted in Sasha being hated by the women stuff of their office. She just had to laugh knowing that even without her being in love with Akira she wouldn't go after Axel. He just wasn't her type and knowing that he has a girlfriend at home just confirmed it. Perhaps that was exactly the reason why they became such good friends that Sasha also shyly asked Axel for a help in choosing a valentine's gift for Akira.

"You want my help with what?" He asked clearly shocked when she finally spoke up.

"Do I need to repeat it?" She asked, her cheeks already blushing. She would also like to choose a girl to help her with this task but unfortunately she just couldn't ask any of the girls she knew.

"Yes, because I can't believe what I've just heard."

"Well... as you know... Akira's coming back on 14th... and it's also 's day... and I'd like to give him something more than just chocolate... So I thought, because you're also a man so you know what men like..." Axel just lifted his hand and stopped Sasha's babbling.

"I understand." A short silence spread between them and Sasha waited for Axel's answer.

"Ok, I'll help you BUT you mustn't tell this to anyone!" He warned Sasha who was already beaming with joy.

"Sure, I won't. Don't worry." She smiled like sun at him and Axel thought that this might be a really bad idea.

**oOo**

They decided to go to a department store and do some research on their "secret" project as Axel named it. Sasha laughed seeing him cautiously looking around whether there is anyone who might know them. She just shook her head and went a bit ahead of Axel who suddenly stopped and looked seriously at one man walking several metres away from them. Something in the way the man moved caused Axel's instincts to wake up. He caught up with Sasha hiding his worries from her for the moment.

When they finally settled in a coffee shop close to the store, Axel pretentiously heaved in relief.

"Finally I'm sitting."

Sasha laughed at his seemingly exhausted face. "Sorry to disappoint you but we haven't finished yet. Tomorrow our mission continues."

"Sasha, are you trying to kill me?"

"No, but we still haven't found what we're looking for." She giggled. "And we've only been in the store for an hour in which we searched through all of the lingerie shops."

Axel made a quick "hush" sign at her. "I told you not to reveal the core of our mission."

Sasha quickly nodded barely concealing her smile.

They ordered a coffee and a sandwich because the shopping made them hungry and after finishing these off, they left the coffee shop.

Walking to the underground station, Axel was cautiously looking around, searching for the man from the department store. When he really found him he decided to tell about it to Sasha.

"Sasha, I think there's someone watching us."

"What?" She turned to him with unbelieving look.

"There's a man about ten metres from us whom I saw in the department store before."

"But it could be just coincidence." She reasoned. She's never seen Axel being so serious.

"I don't think so. It's quite awhile since we left the store and also his sight never leaves your face."

"Mine?" Sasha was utterly surprised. _'Who would want to watch me? I don't know about...' _Then she realized. _'Could it be... Akira's father? But why would he do that? He promised to give us chance... Perhaps he never meant to keep it...No, no, he's not such a person.' _Still she couldn't shake off the unpleasant feeling of being watched by someone.

"Yes. But you don't need to worry, I'll look after you." Axel said and made Sasha smile a little.

"Thanks a lot." She was glad for finding such a good friend.

Axel then walked her home to be sure that she won't come to any harm and he even persuaded her that he'll pick her up every morning for work.

Sasha didn't want to show any fear but Axel's worries got to her somehow. Still when Akira called she didn't let anything on and just happily chatted with him.

**oOo**

On Thursday 13th Sasha was still looking for her gift. She was also already pissed off for being held down with constant presence of unknown man and Axel's care. At least one of these things was off the list for today. Axel had to leave for business trip to Osaka so Sasha could be "alone" for some time. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful to Axel for keeping an eye on her but she just wanted to have some time just for herself. So immediately after work she went to a small shop she found on internet that had enormous number of different types of lingerie and also sizes. When Sasha decided to buy this kind of gift, she somehow forgot that her figure is nowhere near to being like "Japanese".

When she entered the shop her mood immediately improved and she started looking around excitedly. A shop assistant appeared next to her right away and Sasha gladly accepted her help.

When she left after an hour and half she was happy to hold a bag with the kind of lingerie she wanted to buy. She smiled shyly and her cheeks got red when she imagined Akira's face when he'll see her in it.

She turned quickly and her mood dropped in an instant as she saw now too familiar face of the man who was following her. At that moment she decided. _'Enough. I've just had enough.'_ She took out the visit card she got from Akira's father, dialled the number written on it and while waiting for him to pick up the phone she breathed deeply to calm down her anger.

"Hello, this is Sasha Novak. May I talk to for a moment?" She said when Mr. Mimasaka finally answered.

"Oh, Miss Novak, I'm glad to hear you again. Of course, you can, what's going on?" Even though Akira's father was quite surprised to hear Sasha's voice he didn't let it show.

"I don't want to discuss this over the phone. Can you tell where I can find you? I'd like to talk to you right now."

"Sure. By chance I'm at Akira's office right now."

"Great. I'll be there in about twenty minutes." Sasha thanked him and rushed to the nearest underground station.

**oOo**

Once inside the building, Sasha almost flew past the reception desk only quickly waving at the girl sitting behind it.

She nervously tapped with her foot while waiting for the lift to come down. She was just in the right mood and was afraid she'll lose the courage to say what she wanted.

Akira's secretary was already gone and when she finally reached the door of his office she took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in."

Sasha slowly opened the door half-expecting to see Akira behind the desk.

Mr. Mimasaka stood up and smiled at her. He was more than curious what was so urgent that Sasha needed to discuss it immediately.

"Good afternoon." She greeted him and managed to put on a little smile.

"Nice to see you again." Akira's father replied.

Sasha walked to Mr. Mimasaka and sat down on an offered chair.

"So, Sasha, what is the matter?"

"Well, first, I want to apologize that I didn't contact you when Akira and I started dating but when you told us your conditions for letting us continue I thought it's not necessary to talk to you." Sasha took another deep breath and continued.

"But do you think it's really necessary to send someone to follow me all the time?"

Mr. Mimasaka's face clouded and he showed a confused look.

"To follow you? I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't sent anyone."

Sasha stared at Akira's father completely flabbergasted by his words.

"What? So it wasn't you? Then who...?" She asked suddenly loosing all of her fighting spirit.

"We'll soon find out." Mr. Mimasaka picked up his phone and dialled a number. Sasha just quietly listened to his quick speech.

Her mind was in complete chaos as she tried to think up who could possibly be the one to order such thing.

Mr. Mimasaka's face got clouded more and more as he listened to the man at the other side of the phone. He looked up to the sky and tried to decipher what was going on.

When he finished he looked at Sasha and noticed that the girl is really shattered by the situation. _'And she will be even more after she'll hear what I found out.' _He breathed in.

"Sasha." He called her name gently to catch her attention.

"Yes?" She finally looked at him, suddenly worried what she was going to hear.

"I found out who was pursuing you and who gave him such orders." Akira's father paused for a second.

"Unfortunately it was really one of our men but I wasn't the one who gave him the order. It was Akira."

Sasha eyes widened when she heard the name.

"Akira? And why?" She just couldn't comprehend the sudden revelation.

"That I don't know. I think it will be for the best if you two talk this out." Mr. Mimasaka had a suspicion on what was going on in his son's head but he didn't want to say it aloud.

"Well, I'd like to but he's not in Japan now and it's not a thing to talk about by the phone." Sasha's mind was already working again increasing its speed with every second. She shook off the depressed feeling and felt more and more worked up.

"Uhm, Akira is coming back today. Actually, he's already on his way to here."

Sasha was once more surprised and she was starting to hate this state. She stayed quiet for some more time before asking.

"Then, can I wait for him here? I really want to discuss this with him as soon as possible."

"Sure, no problem." Mr. Mimasaka smiled at her, glad to see her energetic self to be back. He really hoped his son didn't do anything stupid because he was already starting to like this girl and wouldn't oppose to their possible marriage.

They talked for about ten minutes before the phone on the desk rang and the receptionist announced Akira's arrival.

Sasha tensed up waiting for her boyfriend to finally enter the office. After a soft knock the door finally opened.

Akira entered his office expecting to see his father but to his utmost surprise he also saw Sasha sitting in front of his desk. He couldn't hide his shocked expression but tried to cover it quickly with a smile.

"Sasha! I didn't expect to see you here." He managed to say but he became quite confused when her face didn't start to beam with love as he was used to.

"Akira, how come you're already back? You said you won't be coming until tomorrow." Sasha wanted to ask him immediately about the "stalker" problem but managed to hold it in.

Mr. Mimasaka watched the exchange and decided to leave them to talk things out without a witness. He stood up and when he was passing by his son he silently uttered: "Good luck."

Akira's sense of danger increased. He finally noticed that Sasha wasn't smiling at all at him. She looked rather pissed off.

"Ehm... Sasha, did something happen? You seem to be somehow furious..." Akira tested the waters.

"Do I?" Sasha was looking at her boyfriend and her anger suddenly started to rise. "Why do you think so?"

"Well... because you didn't give me a welcome kiss." He tried to joke but when he didn't see any reaction he solemnized again.

"Actually, there IS something I'd like to ask you." Sasha finally started, gaining the courage to hear the answer.

"Why did you send someone to watch me?"

Akira's eyes widened in pure shock. He has never expected her to find out.

"H-How did you..." He bumbled but quickly closed his mouth. His jaw hardened when he remembered the daily reports he read while being in Shanghai and he decided to counterattack.

"I wanted to be sure you're faithful to me." Sasha's eyes widened hearing Akira saying such horrible thing so calmly but he continued. "And according to the reports I was right to do so."

"WHAT? What reports? Were you getting reports?" Her voice rose in volume and tone. "Of course you were getting reports, otherwise you wouldn't know what I was doing this whole time. Sure, why not ask me directly, right?"

"I don't understand why you are so angry? I should be the angry one here! While I was gone you were spending every minute of your free time with Axel!" Akira's anger also flared up.

"And why do you think I spent so much time with him?" Sasha shouted at Akira but then breathed in to calm herself and closed her eyes.

"It's no use talking to you like this." She sighed deeply and opened her eyes, suddenly looking hurt and sad, suddenly without her fighting spirit.

"It doesn't matter how much time I spent with whom. The fact is that you didn't and don't trust me." She looked at Akira with deep sorrow written in her face.

Akira was completely stunned by the sudden change in Sasha's behaviour that he just stared at her, unable to say anything.

After a moment, Sasha turned away from him and started to walk towards door. Akira woke up just in time to stop her with hand on the knob.

"Where are you going?" He asked worryingly, not understanding anything that was going on between them.

"Away from you."

Sasha's reply took Akira by surprise and he released a hold on her hand. Sasha looked down on her hand and smiled sadly.

"We can't have a proper relationship until you start to believe in me." She said quietly and left the room.


	20. Chapter 19, part 1

Hello, everyone :-)

I'm so so sorry for this long delay but I finally managed to finish at least half of the chapter so even though it's not all that is going to happen in it I decided to post it anyway hoping that you will like it :-)

Of course, reviews are more than welcome as they give me the strength to continue writing. :-)

**Chapter 19**

Akira watched the closed door for at least five minutes. He couldn't understand what has just happened. Did Sasha just break up with him? His mind finally started to work and he ran out of the door but when he reached the elevator Sasha wasn't there anymore. He pushed the calling button for lift urgently and as soon as the cabin opened the door, he was in and closing the door behind him.

What he didn't know was that Sasha didn't take the elevator. As soon as she closed the door of Akira's office, her eyes became watery and she couldn't see anything. She then walked to the door leading to staircase and there she sat down on a first step. She let the tears fall from her eyes as she quietly sobbed. When she calmed down a little bit she stood up and started slowly walking down. But the stress from everything that happened got to her and she missed a step suddenly and slipped down several stairs, falling on her bottom. Her handbag and everything she was holding flew into the air and landed under the stairs. Immediately she felt pain in her right ankle.

"OUCH! Damn it, can this day be even worse?" She cried out loud. She touched her ankle gently and winced when she felt the pain again. Her leg was quickly changing the colour and swelling.

Sasha sighed deeply and wipped tears from her face. Judging from the state of her ankle, she won't be able to walk very far and the stairs now looked like a big problem. For now she decided to stop thinking about her situation with Akira and just concentrate on the most important thing at the moment. To get herself down and call a taxi to take her home.

Meanwhile Akira flew out of the building, running to his car and driving off to Sasha's home. In his hurry he didn't see his father who was watching him with lifted eyebrows. He correctly guessed that the discussion between him and Sasha went wrong but he didn't want to interfere at the moment.

About ten minutes later, just when he was getting ready to finally leave the buiding, he noticed with great surprise that Sasha was hobbling from the elevator towards the reception desk. He saw her wincing with every step while holding her things and one of her shoes in her arms. He couldn't suppress his curiosity and walked to her when she stopped by the desk and he heard her asking the girl for a taxi declining the receptionist's offer to call an ambulance. One look at her swollen foot and he immediately made a decision.

"Sasha, you can't just go home, your foot needs a proper care. I'll take you to the hospital."

Sasha looked around surprised to see Akira's father. She definitely didn't want HIM to see her in such state because she knew she looked horrible after so much crying.

"Uhm, Mr. Mimasaka, you don't have to. I'm fine, I'll just stop by the drug store and buy some plasters and stretcher."

"Noway. This injury happened in my company so I'm responsible for it." Akira's father insisted.

When Sasha wanted to protest again, Mr. Mimasaka silenced her with one look. She then slowly nodded accepting his offer. One of his bodyguards took her things and with Mr. Mimasaka's help she hopped to the car.

Once they were seated and the car moved, Akira's father looked questioningly at Sasha. Seeing her looking blankly from the window, he smiled lightly. He could easily read her face to know she's not feeling the pain only in her ankle.

"Sasha?"

"Yes?" She turned from the window and looked at Akira's father.

"I know it might sound strange but if you want me to punish my son for hurting you I'll gladly accept your request."

Sasha's eyes widened in surprise and she laughed out in pure amazement. It was exactly what she needed to pull her out of her miserable state.

"Thank your very much, Mr. Mimasaka, but you don't need to. I'll deal with Akira on my own."

Mr. Mimasaka was glad that Sasha regained her usual cheerful self although he himself was a bit surprised that it mattered to him whether she's fine or not. _'I guess I'm getting old.'_ He thought ironically.

Sasha sighed and looked outside the window again. Altough she felt a bit better she still didn't want to discuss what happened with Akira's father.

"He doesn't trust me." Sasha herself was surprised to hear her own voice saying those words despite not wanting to say anything.

"Akira, he... He doesn't trust me." She turned to Mr. Mimasaka, her eyes full of sadness.

"I see." Mr. Mimasaka paused for a moment. "Does he have a reason?" He asked lightly and smiled apologetically seeing the immediate answer written on Sasha's face.

"I don't blame you for not believing me but I thought Akira knew me better." She almost whispered.

"You know, men in love are blind. We get jealous easily and our reasonable mind just flies out of the window."

"Well, women in love are also blind. But to a man's shortcomings." Sasha sighed again. "That's why we're so surprised when our eyes are opened."

Mr. Mimasaka decided to keep his mouth closed and not continue this discussion as it seemed Sasha needed to digest all that happened alone.

They soon stopped in front of a hospital and Sasha watched flabbergasted as the stuff was already waiting for them offering her a wheelchair and taking care of her as if she was some kind of royalty. She turned to Akira's father who looked totally unfazed by this behaviour.

She didn't have much time to think about it as they took her immediately to X-ray room and other procedures to find out what she already knew. That her ankle was only sprained.

Meanwhile Mr. Mimasaka took his phone and made one phonecall. He guessed it would take Akira about twenty minutes to get to the hospital but he heard a shrieking sound of car brakes just after fifteen minutes. Soon he saw his son running to him.

"Where is she? What happened? Why are you with her?" He showered his father with question and tried to catch his breath.

"Calm down, Sasha is fine. It's probably just a sprained ankle." He answered dryly.

"Where is she, I want to see her now." Akira tried to walk by his father but Tetsuhiro caught his arm.

"I don't think it's a good idea. Given the way you two parted today it would be better to leave her alone for a while."

Akira's tension went down partly and he sighed heavily.

"Dad, I really screwed it this time." He confessed and his father patted his shoulder.

"I know."

"I... You know?" Akira turned to his father completely surprised.

"Of course. I'm not blind or stupid, my son."

Akira closed his eyes for a second and breathed in deeply.

"Dad, just tell me where I can find Sasha. I really need to talk to her, apologize and do whatever I can to make her forgive me."

Tetsuhiro just shook his head seeing his son so desperate. "Second door on the left."

Akira smiled in relief and dashed in given direction.

**oOo**

Sasha sighed. The nurse finally finished bandaging her ankle but before she could stand she was asked to wait for her crutches. Sasha had no intension of doing so, so she just waited for the nurse to leave the room and started to pack her things immediately.

When she heard the door opening, she quickly turned around cursing silently that the nurse sure is fast but to her utmost surprise she saw Akira standing in the door frame.

Her mood dropped and she turned her back on him again. As she continued her packing Akira breathed in deeply and closed the door behind him.

Then he slowly walked to Sasha and stopped only few centimetres away from her.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly and reached out his hand to touch Sasha's shoulder.

The girl froze immediately so he quickly took his hand away.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I... I should have known you would never cheat on me."

Sasha finally turned and looked at Akira. He looked really sorry and his eyes were pleading for her forgiveness. Sasha felt her heart melting but she didn't want to surrender so easily.

"Yes, you should." She then tried to walk past him only to be stopped by his hands catching her arms.

"Please, Sasha, give me one more chance."

The look in Akira's eyes was so intense that Sasha had to look away. Suddenly she felt tears coming into her eyes so she better closed them not wanting Akira to see it.

But Akira was quick enough to realize that he might still have a chance to change her mind and he pulled Sasha into a tight embrace.

"I love you, Sasha. Please, don't leave me." He whispered into her ear.

Sasha's defense crambled and she started to cry. Akira was holding her all the time until she calmed down. He himself was feeling such a relief that his knees almost gave a way but he managed to stand and kept holding the girl he never knew he could come to love so much.

When he partly released his hold, Sasha lifted up her head.

"If you ever doubt about me again then I..." She didn't finish the sentence because Akira placed his hand over her mouth.

"I won't." He said and wiped off the tears from her face.

"Let's go." Akira said a few moments later, picking up Sasha's things and helping her walk.

Sasha allowed him to help her and she didn't even protest when the nurse brought the crutches. She willingly took them and started to walk down the hall to the exit. She was too tired to even think. She vaguely noticed Akira's father standing in the hallway of the hospital and she greeted him only with a meak bow of her head before Akira took her outside and helped her into his car. He drove her home and after he was sure she was in her pajamas and in bed, he left her to allow her to rest. He went back to his home hoping that everything will now return as it was before he made the mistake.

**oOo**

In the following weeks he learned that wishes and reality are two completely different things.

At first, everything seemed to be just the way it was and they spent almost all of his time in Japan together. But as the time went by, he realized that even though Sasha wasn't avoiding him physically and always agreed on meeting him looking happy, she somehow kept her distance emotionally. He realized that whenever they kissed, something was missing and also he couldn't decipher what it was for a long time, today, he finally found his answer.

He lost Sasha's trust.

She may have forgiven him but what he did destroyed her faith in him.

He had absolutely no idea how to win her trust back and this was the reason why he was now, six weeks after the incident, standing in his office in Tokyo looking out from the window completely lost in his thoughts. He had never been in such situation before. Being born into the most powerful yakuza family in Japan taught him about responsibility since childhood so he naturally emitted the aura of dependance. That's why he always had the trust of his friends and noone ever doubted him.

Akira knew that he would need an advice from someone who went through similar situation and the only person who came to his mind was of course Soujirou. He also thought about asking Tsukasa but he scratched the idea immediately because, well, Tsukasa was an idiot when it came to women and he would surely misinterpret his question.

Akira turned away from the window and sighed. '_I really should call Soujirou.'_ He thought. He took his phone and dialled up his friend's number before he changed his mind again.

"Moshi moshi, Akira?"

When he heard Soujirou's voice, Akira almost hanged up but he realized that he must face the situation head on.

"Hi, Soujirou. How have you been? Still blissful honeymooner?" He tried to sound as his usual cheerful self.

"Yeah, pretty much." Soujirou laughed at his friend's remark although he noticed a strange vibe in his voice.

"I'm glad to hear it. I hope Yuki feels the same way as you."

"Of course, she does. She wouldn't find a better husband than me." Soujirou replied, a little bit hurt by Akira's distrust in his abilities to make Yuki happy.

Akira smiled sadly. He also wished...

"So, Akira, what is the real reason of your call? You don't expect me to believe that you just wanted to know how we are, do you?" Soujirou decided not to beat around the bush.

Akira sighed. He knew that Soujirou would see right through him.

"You're right. I do have a reason." He paused for a moment. "I need an advice."

Soujirou's eyes widened and he lifted his eyebrows.

"Advice?"

"Yes." Akira didn't know how to describe his problem realizing that it might be better to discuss this personally.

"Well, it seems like it's serious and not really suitable to talk over the phone so why don't you just jump to your car and come here? I'm sure Yuki will be happy to see you as well as me." Soujirou said after a short silence.

Akira smiled at his friend's offer. He was really grateful to have friend like Soujirou.

"Akira?"

"I'll be ther in twenty minutes." He replied already on his way of the office.

"Good. We are waiting for you."


	21. Chapter 19, part 2

So, here's the second part, enjoy :-)

Next time: Sasha's thoughts and Akira's surprise! ;-)

**oOo**

Akira arrived to Soujirou's house exactly twenty minutes after he finished his phone call. For a moment he remained sitting in his car contemplating whether he really should discuss his problem with his friend. He sighed and finally got out reminding himself not to behave like a coward.

"Hi, Akira." Soujirou greeted his friend when he saw him entering the living room where he was waiting him. He smiled at him although he noticed how worn out Akira looked.

"Hi, Soujirou. Long time no see." Akira also smiled suddenly aware of how much he missed his friend.

"Yes."

There was a short pause before Soujirou pointed to the sofa silently offering Akira to sit down.

"So, my friend, what is the problem?" Soujirou asked not wanting to unnecessarily postpone their discussion about the problem that brought Akira here on Friday evening.

"Well... It's a long story..." Akira hesitated, suddenly not willing to disclose his own stupidity to his friend.

"I have a lot of time."Soujirou replied and made himself comfortable on the sofa opposite to Akira's.

Akira sighed and started to talk.

Ten minutes later he finished and silence spread in the room. At first he was too embarrassed to even look at his friend but soon his curiosity won and he lifted his eyes. Opposite to his expectations he saw his friend deep in thoughts.

"Uhm, Soujirou?"

His friend just nodded and then he stood up. "I think we'll need Yuki's advice. She's a woman after all."

Before Akira could react he was out of the door.

Several minutes later he returned with his wife smiling like a small child who just received a candy.

"Good evening, Akira-san." Yuki greeted him with a small bow of her head.

"Good evening, Yuki. How have you been? Is Soujirou behaving like a doting husband?"

Yuki blushed at Akira's question but stood her ground.

"Of course, he is. I wouldn't allow him otherwise." She dared to joke making both men laugh.

"Uhm, Soujirou told me that you have some problem with Sasha and that you need my advice..." Yuki paused for a moment. "He didn't tell me the details so I'm not sure if I can help you but I'll try."

Akira smiled a lit bit embarrassed and scratched his head.

"Well, you know, I... I kind of made a pretty big mistake and although Sasha seemed to forgive me, I can feel that she doesn't trust me as she did before... And I have no idea how to win her trust back."

When he looked at Yuki he saw the same thoughtful expression as Soujirou wore before he ran out and he wondered whether Yuki would also go to ask someone else, perhaps Soujirou's parents. Akira's mind stopped at that idea and he quickly chased it out of his brain._'Oh dear God, please not that!'_

"Well, it's hard to say..." Yuki said still deep in thoughts. She then looked at Akira and smiled lightly.

"I remember that we once talked about trust in relationships and Sasha mentioned this as one of the most important things for her. She said that if her boyfriend ever cheated on her she probably wouldn't be able to forgive him... Did you?" She turned to Akira questioningly.

"NO! No I didn't cheat on her!" Akira paused, only now realizing the extent of the consequences of his action. "But I guess I did something even worse. I doubted Sasha's fidelity."

"What?" Yuki was utterly surprised and just stared blankly at Akira whose face showed how much he was ashamed of himself.

Yuki sighed. She felt pity over Akira and Sasha because she could imagine the pain both of them had to feel. Although she didn't know Sasha for a long time she knew that Akira's distrust must have been a big blow to her. She only tried to imagine herself in such situation and she knew immediately the extent of the pain.

She once again looked at Akira and seeing his own painful expression she decided that she has to help both of them no matter what.

"Well, what's done is already done. Now we should concentrate on a solution, shouldn't we?" She smiled seeing Akira's hopeful face.

"In my opinion you either must endlessly show Sasha that you love her and will not waver ever again, taking small steps in time or you must do something really crazy that will prove your love to her so that she will really forgive you and will believe in you once again."

Her words left two flabbergasted men in the room. Soujirou and Akira looked at each trying to apprehend the second part of her sentence.

"What do you mean by something really crazy?" Soujirou asked his wife but Yuki just shrugged.

"I don't know. Might be something like your trip to Sapporo by car at night." She smiled at him sweetly.

Soujirou just winced, still not happy to be reminded of his silly act but Yuki's words somehow gave Akira a hint where to start.

"Thank you, Yuki. I think I understand what you meant. I'll try it." He smiled at her really grateful for her advice.

"You're welcome, Akira-san." Yuki bowed her head.

Soujirou just looked from one to another and then decided it's high time to change the subject to something more cheerful.

"Ne, Akira, want to hear some good news for a change?" He said giggling from ear to ear. He quickly caught Yuki's hands that were trying to close his mouth and continued.

"We're going to have a baby."

Akira's eyes widened in surprise and he lit up with joy. "Wow, that's great! Congratulations!"

"Thanks." Soujirou said pleased with himself. "It's a honeymoon baby, actually. I didn't want to wait like Tsukasa did. Somehow I suspect it took him one year to find out how to actually produce a bab- OUCH."

Yuki slapped her husband for badmouthing his friend. Her face was all red from Soujirou's improper comments. He liked to tease very much but she was now learning how to cope with it, although very slowly.

Akira watched his friends bickering and had to smile. This visit was really a good idea and now he was full of hope and determination to solve his problem with Sasha because now, he knew how.


	22. Chapter 20

Hi, everyone :-)

I can't believe it's more than 6 months since I updated. I sooooo sorry for the delay. Really.

The problem is I have the story in my head I just can't seem to be able to get it on paper…

Anyway, here's another chapter and even though it might look like it, it still isn't the end… Hope you're not disappointed by that :-)

Enjoy :-) and if you have something to say to the story, please review. :-)

**Chapter 20**

Next day morning Sasha woke up at 7 o'clock. It was Saturday so naturally she could have slept longer but lately she had problems to sleep at all. For several weeks she had something on her mind and even though she tried hard to find out how to solve her problem she still couldn't find the right answer.

She sighed, giving up trying to fall asleep again and got up. After going through all her usual morning procedures she went to kitchen to prepare herself a breakfast and get ready to cook a lunch. Akira was supposed to come and they were to have a meal together.

'_Akira…' _Sasha sighed again stopping momentarily with washing the rice. After the accident she thought that she would be able to forget about it and just return to the same blissful state she was in before but soon she realized that she was keeping her distance from Akira.

At first her ankle was hurting so she kept her distance physically, afraid that she could accidentally kick her foot against something but later, when her ankle was already fine, she realized that even though she still loved Akira and wanted to be close to him she kept her distance internally not letting him touch her heart. It took her some time to find out what was really troubling her but slowly she wised up to it. She was scared he would hurt her again and to prevent that she rebuilt the walls around her heart. It wasn't as strong as before but still it was strong enough for her not to be able to destroy it on her own.

And that was the reason she couldn't sleep lately. She found herself caught between the desire to tell everything to Akira, letting him destroy the wall again and her fear that by doing so he will later hurt her again and more.

Sasha shook her head trying to disperse all her unhappy thoughts and continued with her work. She was already fed up with her own indecisiveness. _'This is going nowhere. I need to talk to Akira today. I can't go on like this.' _She decided but then she thought about the second thing that kept bothering her and her will wavered again.

Since the accident she kept her intended gift for Valentine's Day hidden at the bottom of her drawer. Akira also didn't press the matter of them sleeping together so she evaded mentioning it on her own, given the situation between them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound of a doorbell. Sasha lifted up her head surprised. Quick glance at the clock told her it was only around 9 o'clock and Akira was supposed to come at 11.

She dried up her hands and went to open the door. Her eyes widen in shock when she saw absolutely unbelievable sight.

"Akira?"

In front of her was indeed her boyfriend but he was dressed in replica of one of Freddie Mercury's costumes and holding a microphone.

Sasha then watched him with opened mouth as he bent down to turn on a radio. She didn't comprehend what was happening in front of her at all.

After first tones she recognized Queen's song Love of my life and her eyes and shock grew even more when Akira started to sing. He was a terrible singer but he sang with all his heart, even trying some weird dancing choreography.

Sasha leaned against the door frame and an unbelieving smile appeared on her face. She listened to Akira's singing and at that moment she felt all her confused feelings and conflicts crumbling down and being dispersed by the man standing in front of her. None of her doubts remained and she only knew that she loved this man more than anything. She knew very well that a man who is able to pull such a stunt is more than worthy of her love and she could only pray that she is also worthy of his love in such extent.

Belatedly she realized her neighbours were all standing in the corridor watching the unsual live show. Her face got red in an instant due to embarrasement and she ran to Akira trying to shut him up.

"Akira." She spoke in low voice trying to put her hand over his mouth unsuccessfully. "Akira! Please, stop. That's enough."

"Not until you forgive me and trust me completely again." Akira answered and continued singing.

The look in his eyes was serious and shut Sasha for a second. Then she looked around once again and seeing her thoroughly entertained neighbours prompted her to action again.

"I do. I do trust you but please, stop singing and let's go inside." Now she was red all over her body and almost diing from embarrasement. "Please." She gave Akira desperately pleading look.

Akira looked at her and sighed lightly. He put the microphone away. The music went on but he was looking at his girlfriend with eyes full of hope.

"Do you really trust me?" He asked wanting to hear her answer and confirm what she might said just to stop him singing.

Sasha heaved in relief but his question made her look at him again. She looked into his eyes hesitating for a second and nodded.

"Good." Akira smiled from ear to ear and in a lighting speed turned off the radio, packed all his things and rushed into Sasha's flat while taking Sasha's hand pulling her along.

The door slammed behind them and Sasha found herself in a tight embrace of Akira's arms. She closed her eyes and huged Akira back. It was so long since they held each other without restraint that it brought tears into her eyes.

After a long time Akira loosened his hold and looked down at Sasha who lifted her head and looked into his eyes.

"Do you really forgive me?" He asked once again still not fully certain.

Sasha didn't say a word, teasing her boyfriend with several seconds without any reaction but then she caught Akira's face between her palms, leaned forward and kissed him with all the love she felt towards this amazing man.

It was the sweetest kiss Akira ever got. But soon the sweetness wasn't enough and he pulled Sasha closer and deepened his kiss.

When he released her mouth Sasha was completely out of breath. Still she could read the unspoken question and desire in Akira's eyes. For a second she hesitated, suddenly very unsure of herself, but seeing and feeling Akira's love for her she hushed all her worries. She took his hand and led him towards her bedroom.

**oOo**

Akira woke up slowly confused for a moment when he couldn't realize where he was. Then he remembered and smiled. He looked down at the girl sleeping in his arms. She looked very peaceful, light smile on her lips and he couldn't suppress the urge to tug her hair from her face and to gently touch her, feeling her contours with his fingerprints.

Sasha frowned trying to disperse the tickling sensation on her face. When it didn't help she slowly opened one eye to see what was disturbing her sleep and saw Akira who smiled at her.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked her quietly.

"Uhm." She muttered and closed her eye again.

It took her about three seconds to realize where she was and with whom. She stiffened and felt the surge of blood to her face. She didn't dare to open her eyes again because she knew she would see a very contented expression on her boyfriend's face. Then she realized that instead of her carefully selected underware she was wearing her usual cotton one and if she could she would bang her head against wall. This way she could only bury her head more into Akira's chest. '_Into bare chest… Oh my god…' _She thought horrified before she realized that she was naked too of course, because people usually get undressed when they're in bed and…

Akira watched amused as Sasha tried to hide herself under the blanket that covered them before she found out that by doing so she got dangerously close to his lap. He suppressed his laugh and uncovered his girlfriend as she was trying to think up a way how to get out of the bed without being exposed to his sight.

Sasha lifted her head when she felt the blanket was gone and looking into Akira's smiling eyes she got red even more and she smiled shyly.

"Hi." She managed to say before Akira stretched his arms and pulled her back to him. She landed on his chest and he kissed her before she had a chance to say anything more.

He turned so she would lie under him and when their kiss ended, he could see on Sasha's face that she calmed down nad gave in to his kiss completely.

"Did I tell you that I love you?" He asked her before she could start thinking again.

Sasha's eyes widened at the totally unexpected question and confession and for a long time she just stared at Akira completely flabbergasted. She then felt the tears of happiness sting in the corners of her eyes.

She didn't trust her voice so she just nodded.

"Did I?" Akira asked again surprised at her answer.

Sasha nodded again. "Yes, you did. Right now." She said huskily. She pulled him closer to her and whispered into his ear.

"I love you too, Akira."

**oOo**

It was already evening when they finally emerged from the bedroom, both very hungry. When Sasha entered kitchen she remembered that she was in the middle of preparing lunch when Akira came. All the ingrediences were where she left them and she sighed at the sight of the rice still drowned in water. She quickly started to work and soon the flat was filled with the scent of cooked food.

Akira found her preparing the side dishes and he loved the view of her just in her oversized night t-shirt. He knew very well she wasn't wearing anything underneath and for a second he was tempted to scoop her up in his arms and take her back to bed before his stomach growled. _'Ok, first food, then love.' _He thought but he still hugged Sasha from back and kissed her cheek looking over her shoulder to her quickly working hands.

Sasha smiled and also kissed Akira's cheek before turning back to her work.

"It looks delicious." Akira comented and felt his stomach growl again.

"I hope so." Sasha smiled and turned to Akira releasing herself from his embrace. She looked him up and down taking in his nice and firm figure freshly smelling from shower and dressed only in pants. He obviously took spare clothes with him because these weren't those he was wearing in the morning.

"The meal will be ready shortly. Can you set up the table? I'll just take a quick shower and be back in a moment." She asked him and rushed out to the bathroom. But before going there she quietly slipped into her bedroom. She rushed to her drawer taking out her valentine's gift. She won't make the same mistake twice. She laughed shyly, blushed at the sight of messy bed and ran to the bathroom. Her body ached in places she didn't even know could ache but she wouldn't change that pain for anything in the world. In the privacy of her shower bath she could finally let herself believe that what happened today is real and not just some fantasy and the pain she was feeling in her body was the proof. _'Akira loves me… He really loves me. And he trusts me.'_ She tought and it filled her with enormous happiness because now she believed it.

She quickly finished her bath, put on her special underware and put back her oversized t-shirt. She wanted Akira to be surprised.

And he was. Very pleasantly.


	23. Chapter 21

Hello :-)

Here's another chapter and I'm happy to tell you there's just epilogue to write and this story is finished. :-) Hurray :-D

On the other hand I'm also little sad to part my way with Sasha and Akira but who knows I might meet them in another story ;-)

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and see you at the epilogue :-)

**Chapter 21**

At the beginning of July Akira came back to Tokyo for good. He successfully finished his work in Shanghai and he was looking forward to finally spending his time with Sasha without any limitations. They agreed that when he comes back definitely Sasha would move with him to his town's apartment. He was worried at first that his father would oppose it but opposite to his expectations he agreed and didn't try to come up with more conditions to Akira's relationship with Sasha. His joy was dimmed though because Sasha went back home for three weeks just few days after his return. She wanted to spend her birthday with her family and Akira tried to be understanding mainly because Sasha hasn't been home since she came to Japan. Still the three weeks seemed to be the longest in his life.

On the other hand, during that time he could think about their relationship and what it meant to him. The longer Sasha was gone the more certain he was he didn't want just a normal relationship but a permanent one. That of course meant marriage and it was surprising even for Akira himself that he, the famous Don Juan of F4, considers marriage and, to hell with it, he wants to get married as soon as possible!

Still it was very serious decision that didn't include only him, Sasha and their feelings but also his family and whole Mimasaka Group.

So one day in those three weeks he visited his father at his office and after much hesitation he finally told him the news.

Mr. Mimasaka was watching his son silently for very long moment before he finally spoke up.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Akira looked at his father, surprised by the question. Although he knew his father quite liked Sasha he still expected objections from his side.

"Yes, I am."

Akira's father acknowledged the answer with a nod and then he continued.

"I must say I'm quite surprised you reached this decision but I will trust your opinion and I hope you gave this enough time and took everything in consideration." He paused for a second.

"Of course I would prefer you choose a Japanese girl from good family but I must admit that Sasha is very nice and brave young woman and I believe she would be a great wife to you as a man as well as future head of Mimasaka Group."

Akira was speechless after his father finished his monologue. Mainly because he didn't expect to hear something so different from what he grew up with. He always thought that his future contained a marriage to a girl chosen by his father without a chance to say no. But now… He was watching his father and suddenly he was very grateful for his parents. They always gave him enough space and didn't try to control his life but this was more than he ever dreamed of.

"Thank you, dad." He only managed to say and they smiled at each other.

"I suppose Sasha already agreed to your proposal. Was she surprised at least as I was?" Mr. Mimasaka asked curiously.

"Uhm, actually, not yet."

"What? You didn't ask her yet?" Akira's father was thoroughly astonished.

Akira grinned and scratched his head. "Well, I thought I would first ask you."

His father laughed. "Well, at least this you did right."

"Well I hope that Sasha will agree with my proposal as easily as you." Akira said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

His father raised right eyebrow. "What makes you think she wouldn't agree?"

"I don't think she won't agree it's just… I don't know it's just…" Somehow Akira couldn't find words to express what he was feeling.

"You know, when my father told me that I'm to be married and that he already chose my future wife, I was furious." Akira's father suddenly stated and made Akira listen attentively. "I didn't want to get married much less to someone I didn't even know. I was even thinking about running away but the moment I looked at your mother I fell in love and I still love her same as at that moment." He smiled. "I was very lucky and I thank for every day that I can spend my life with this amazing woman who gave me three wonderful kids." He looked at his stunned son and his smile broadened.

"So if you found the same happiness with Sasha I don't want to stand in your way." He paused for a second. "Naturally my consent is greatly based on the fact that I like Sasha because she proved to me she is worthy of you and the name of Mimasaka. Otherwise I would get rid of any girl were she not to my liking and good enough for the future generation of our family."

The tone of his father's voice dropped significantly with the last sentence and Akira didn't doubt that every word was meant. So he just smiled and nodded.

With this hurdle out o way he bid his father goodbye and returned to his office. Now he only had to come up with an idea HOW to propose to Sasha.

**oOo**

At the end of August Akira was still at the same starting point as he was after the talk with his father. It wasn't that he didn't find the courage to ask. It just seemed it simply never was the right time.

First, when Sasha returned, he wanted to ask her immediately. He even prepared everything – dinner at their apartment, a scented bubble bath for two, but somehow they didn't get to talk at all.

Then he had to unexpectedly go to Shanghai and solve a crisis there which took him almost three weeks.

So now here he was standing in his office, once again looking out to a dark Tokyo's streets.

He sighed. _'Just what do I do wrong that nothing in my life goes the way I want?' _He thought before he turned back to his table. He looked at the framed photo of Sasha and smiled. He took it secretly because Sasha didn't like to be photographed. She always said she wasn't photogenic but he didn't think so.

Suddenly he decided that instead of waiting for the perfect moment he would take the moment he has and make it perfect.

He quickly left his office and soon he was on his way home.

**oOo**

Sasha had completely different problem at that time. She was sitting in the bathroom and waiting. Waiting for a result of a pregnancy test. Many thoughts were running through her head and she returned to the moment she first suspected she might be pregnant.

It was in the morning of that day when Natsuko stopped at Sasha's table to have a little chat with coffee cup in her hand. The moment Sasha smelled the drink, her stomach made a twist and she felt nauseous. It wasn't that surprising because she didn't eat her breakfast yet but when she later sipped her own coffee she could hardly swallow. Suddenly she didn't like the taste and horrified she realized it was exactly the same as her mother used to say about how she found out she was pregnant. She searched her memory and could find only one moment when she and Akira weren't really careful. _'It was the bath. It certainly was the bath.' _She was sure that if she was truly pregnant it happened right after she returned from the visit of her family. It was an unforgettable evening and night for her and she smiled at the memory although her smile disappeared when she heard the tinkle of the clock.

Suddenly nervous more than ever she slowly picked up the stick.

**oOo**

Akira parked the car in the garage and took the lift to his apartment. He was getting more and more nervous with each step but his determination remained solid and unchanged. He was going to propose to Sasha tonight and he wasn't taking 'no' as an answer.

Still he inhaled sharply before the elevator door opened. He slowly walked towards the living room where he suspected to find his girlfriend.

"Sasha?" He called out.

"Yes? Ah, welcome home." Sasha came out of the kitchen and smiled at her boyfriend.

Akira silently sighed in relief. For a moment he was afraid she wasn't there.

"I prepared a dinner for us. Would you like to eat now or do you want to refresh yourself first?" Sasha asked still smiling.

Akira watched her, tempted for a brief moment to delay his confession. Then he mustered his courage.

"Sasha, could you sit down for a moment. I have something to tell you."

Sasha looked at him and his sudden serious expression worried her. _'Could he be thinking about breaking up?'_ She thought suddenly horrified and scared. She loved him too much to be sure she could handle such blow.

"Sasha, I…" Akira's carefully prepared speech flew right out of the window when he looked into Sasha's scared eyes.

"What's the matter, Sasha?" He asked disturbed by the sight of Sasha's fear.

"You're not going to break up with me, are you?" She managed to ask.

"What?! NO! Of course not!" Akira almost shouted and reached out to get a hold of Sasha's hands.

"Don't you know I'm crazy in love with you?" He asked with little hurt in his voice.

Sasha gave him the sweetest smile he'd ever seen from her.

"I'm sorry, Akira." She apologized and tried to explain. "It's just that… Suddenly you looked so serious and I've never seen you like this before."

Akira inhaled deeply. _'It's now or never.' _He thought.

"The reason I was serious is completely different from your conclusion. In fact, it's the exact opposite." He paused for a second, hoping Sasha would understand but seeing her confused expression he had no choice but to continue.

"In fact, I wanted to ask you… if you would be willing… to marry me." Akira finally said what he wanted. He watched Sasha's expression, eagerly awaiting her reaction to his proposal.

It took Sasha several seconds to fully understand what Akira meant and then she felt her chin fall in surprise. Her mind was completely blank. Before when she was thinking about her relationship with Akira she was just happy and contented with how the things were between them. She never wanted to think too far ahead and would never have expected Akira to propose to her. Of course, somewhere in her mind she wished he would do it and they would stay together forever but she didn't dare to dream too much, knowing his family and the circumstances.

"Sasha?" Akira managed to ask her in a weak voice when he saw that Sasha was too stunned to reply.

Sasha regained a bit of her composure and turned her attention to Akira again. She could see how nervous he was but still she had to ask the one question that popped up in her mind.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" She looked into his eyes, her own vulnerability and uncertainty written all over her face. It gave Akira the much needed confidence.

"Yes, I do."

Tears brimmed in the corners of Sasha's eyes and she smiled wholeheartedly.

"Then of course I can't refuse. I will marry you, Akira."

His face beamed up with thousand-watt smile and before Sasha knew it she was in his arms and he was whirling her around.

"Akira, Akira, please stop, I'm getting dizzy." Sasha screamed while laughing.

Slowly he stopped moving them around and held Sasha until she regained her footing again. He reluctantly released his hold but he quickly supported her again when she swayed lightly.

"I'm sorry, Sasha. It's just that I feel so happy and relieved you didn't refuse me I couldn't hold it in anymore." Akira was smiling while saying it. His face clearly telling he didn't regret one bit his behaviour. If he could he would shout out to the world how happy he was.

Sasha felt the love swell in her heart and she moved closer to Akira and closed his mouth with hers.

It took them several minutes before they parted their lips again and by the time Sasha had a hard time remembering what she wanted to say to Akira before he proposed.

"Ehm, Akira?" She started when her brain started to work again.

"Yes, love?"

"I have a little gift for you."

Akira lifted his head from Sasha's neck he was nibbling at.

"Really? But you didn't have to buy me anything." He said and returned to the activity she interrupted.

"Well, I didn't buy you anything and in fact, it's not exactly a gift I could give you right now." She was smiling like Mona Lisa, trying to give Akira as many hints as possible. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't in a state of mind to guess.

He lifted his head and stared at her confused.

"What kind of gift is that?" He asked and then followed Sasha's look towards the table with their forgotten dinner. There, in the middle was a little package wrapped in red sparkling paper.

He slowly released Sasha from his embrace and reached for the box. He unwrapped it and stared at the sign "pregnancy test". He looked back at Sasha but she urged him to open it.

He consciously opened the box and reached inside to take out the little stick. He turned the box and confirmed what he already suspected. Another brilliant smile lightened his face and he hugged Sasha once more. He kissed her fiercely and then stared into her eyes in awe.

"B-but when? How?" He only managed to ask.

"I guess it was in the bath… and how? Do you really need to ask?" Sasha teased him a bit.

"When did you find out?"

"Just today. I got sick from coffee and… " She just shrugged her shoulders.

"A baby. Our baby." Akira placed his hand tenderly over Sasha's stomach and looked at her with all the love and awe he felt.

"Yes." Sasha confirmed softly.

"I love you, Sasha." Akira said and kissed his wife-to-be.

"I love you too, Akira."


End file.
